Flood Warning Issued for Cook and Lake Counties in Illinois

Source: NOAA · Northeastern Illinois

This alert is no longer in effect.

NOAA issued it on April 7, 2026, 4 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).

Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.

The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Warning for Cook and Lake counties in Illinois, forecasting minor flooding on the Des Plaines River from Tuesday afternoon until early Friday afternoon.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Flood Warning
Affected area
Northeastern Illinois
Issued
April 7, 2026
Issuing authority
NWS Chicago IL

Flood notices turn on location and timing. Treat the named area as this record's scope; do not assume nearby counties, parishes, or waterways were included.

Record status: historical. It was issued 4 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Northeastern Illinois.

Flood Warning in Northeastern Illinois

Alert Details

The National Weather Service in Chicago, IL has issued a Flood Warning. This alert is effective from April 6, 2026, at 8:23 PM CDT and remains in place until April 10, 2026, at 1:00 PM CDT.

Affected Areas

The warning affects Cook and Lake counties in Illinois, specifically the Des Plaines River from Townline Road in Libertyville downstream to Palatine Road in Prospect Heights, including the Lincolnshire gauge.

What You Should Do

Persons along rivers and streams in the warned area should take immediate precautions to protect life and property. Avoid areas prone to flooding.

Expected Conditions

Minor flooding is forecast, with the river expected to rise above the flood stage of 12.5 feet to a crest of 13.1 feet early Thursday morning. At 7:45 PM CDT on Monday, the stage was 12.0 feet.

Timeline

The flooding is expected from Tuesday afternoon, April 7, 2026, to early Friday afternoon, April 10, 2026.

Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗

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Nationwide notices with similar length or severity timing 8

Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this NWS weather alert: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this NWS weather alert.

What is this NWS weather alert about?
The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Warning for Cook and Lake counties in Illinois, forecasting minor flooding on the Des Plaines River from Tuesday afternoon until early Friday afternoon.
Which agency issued this alert?
This alert was issued by NOAA. The original notice is available at the source link at the bottom of this article.
How severe is this alert?
This alert is classified as "high" severity. Take precautions and monitor for updates.
What area is affected?
This alert affects Northeastern Illinois. Check with NOAA for the most current geographic scope.
Where can I find more Weather Alerts updates?
Browse the full Weather Alerts feed on Areazine at areazine.com/weather/ for the latest updates from NOAA and other agencies.