Currently in Chicago — July 15, 2024: Heavy rain and high heat

The weather, currently.

Scattered thunderstorms are steadily marching through the Great Lakes region, and Chicago will get our fair share tonight, along with a low of around 74. Then the mercury will soar tomorrow into the low 90s, but added humidity and other factors will push the heat index up to 104.

Be prepared for more heavy rain Monday night and into Tuesday morning, with risks of wind damage and flash flooding in vulnerable areas. It’s going to be a rough ride for the next 24 hours, but then the skies will clear and we should have pleasant mild temps to finish the week.

— Katje Sabin

What you can do, currently.

A Media Matters analysis found that last year — the hottest calendar year on record — network coverage of climate actually declined in the US. What’s worse, just 12% of reports about climate change mentioned fossil fuels as the driving cause. The media still reported on extreme weather, but stopped short of making the climate connection.

Independent climate journalism like Currently is needed more than ever. And this year, with all of these weather warnings already underway, we’ll unfortunately have plenty of opportunities to do better.