Severe storms are expected to sweep through the city. View Full Caption Shutterstock

THE LOOP — Severe storms are expected to sweep through the city just in time to ruin Wednesday evening.

A tornado watch was issued in effect from 6:11 p.m. Wednesday until 1 a.m. Thursday for Chicago.

The city is expected to get hit with heavy rain, hail and damaging winds, said Ricky Castro, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. It's not definite that tornadoes will form in the city, but the National Weather Service will be keeping an eye out for that while also watching for other severe weather, Castro said.

“... Even a tornado or two is possible,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Chyna Glenn. “It looks like the main threat is going to be the damaging winds and torrential downpours … .”

Wind gusts could reach up to 50 mph, Glenn said, and there will be "torrential downpours" that drop 1 to 2 inches of rain on the city.

Flooding will be a concern because of the rain, though the amount will vary throughout the city, Castro said. There's also a possibility the city will get large hail, Castro said. The hail could be 1 inch in diameter or about the size of a quarter, he said.

The National Weather Service is predicting the possibility of 60-70-plus mph winds and golf ball-size hail.

People should have a safety plan in place and shouldn't rule out significant severe weather, Castro said. Glenn encouraged people to "keep an eye on the sky" when considering going outside.

"If any of these storms look particularly dangerous, heed the weather and try to get to some safer structure to ride out the storm," Glenn said.

If a tornado does form, it would probably be weak — F1 or F2, Glenn said.

Tornadoes are rare in Chicago: A 2006 tornado formed over Lake Michigan, but it never came onto the shore. A tornado swept through the South in 1967, and a 1961 tornado killed one person and injured 115.

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