Currently in Chicago — July 16, 2024: Severe storms possible

The weather, currently.

This is not a drill! We will see another series of severe storms move through Illinois on Monday night, including winds that could create tornados and derechos. Anything not secured could become a projectile, so please prepare now. Use the NOAA site or your favorite weather app to stay aware; remember that derechos can move faster than the alarms.

Tuesday should ease up a bit with a high near 80 and partly sunny skies once the storms have finished with us. We should have up to a week of sunny days in the mid-70s ahead, a lovely reward after the floods and winds.

— 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.