Alert archive / Illinois / Wind Advisories in 2026

Wind Advisory 4, NWS Chicago, IL

March 12, 202618 counties in Illinois; 5 counties in Indiana

NWS Chicago, IL issued this wind advisory at Mar 12, 2026, 1:33 AM CDT for 18 counties in Illinois; 5 counties in Indiana. It took effect at Mar 13, 2026, 1:00 AM CDT. It was in force for 17 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Mar 12, 2026, 1:33 AM CDT (06:33 UTC)
In effect from: Mar 13, 2026, 1:00 AM CDT
Expired: Mar 13, 2026, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 17 hr
Issued by: NWS Chicago, IL

All 23 counties

Boone County, IL, Cook County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Ford County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Iroquois County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Lee County, IL, Livingston County, IL, McHenry County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Will County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Benton County, IN, Jasper County, IN, Lake County, IN, Newton County, IN, Porter County, IN

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 12 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:36 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 158 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 89 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -109 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this wind advisory went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this wind advisory went out at Mar 12, 12:36 AM CDT, 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 12:36 AM CDT, 57 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 11, 2:19 PM CDT, 11 hours 14 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 11, 8:45 PM CDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before

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The office that day

Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 12, 1:33 AM CDT	High Wind Watch	LOT	Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake and 2 more	10 hr
Mar 12, 3:16 AM CDT	Gale Warning	LOT		23 hr
Mar 12, 9:49 AM CDT	Gale Warning	LOT		36 hr
Mar 12, 9:49 AM CDT	Storm Warning	LOT		29 hr
Mar 12, 11:28 AM CDT	High Wind Warning	LOT	Boone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane and 9 more	29 hr

Nearby

Wind Advisories in Illinois, 2026 Wind Advisories in Indiana, 2026 Every wind advisory in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.