Currently in Chicago — July 31, 2024: Overcast skies could turn thunderous

The weather, currently.

The temperature will be climbing into the high 80s on Wednesday, with heavy humidity and heat indices soaring to 105. Lows will drop to around 70. But the real showstoppers could be the potentially severe thunderstorms that are already raking through the downstate areas, spawning hail, tornadoes, and floods.

These squalls could pop up anytime from now through Friday, but the most powerful storms are most likely to hit Chicago in the wee hours both Wednesday and Thursday mornings. The weekend is shaping up to be sunny and hot, though the heavy humidity is not going to ease up for a while.

— 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.