How Deep Was It: West Suburbs Get Dunked

Caption: Hinsdale Police Officer Tim Lennox dons boots to assist residents with flooded basements early Friday morning. | Hinsdale Police Department

Friday’s early morning storms drenched the south and west suburbs in Cook and DuPage Counties, spurring flash flood warnings, deluging retention ponds and in some communities dumping four inches or more of rain in a matter of hours.

The largest 24-hour rain total recorded in the west suburbs was in Countryside topping out at 4.69 inches.

In Hinsdale, police dealt with street closures and assisted residents reporting rain gushing through their basements.

The city of Elmhurst added a special Saturday morning trash pickup for flood and storm damaged items in flood-prone neighborhoods.

Southwest suburban Burbank was the hardest hit, recording 5.5 inches of rain reported between 2 and 6 a.m., sending water spilling over the banks of the Melvina Ditch Reservoir at 87th Street, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District said in a news advisory.

WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling said 3.95 inches fell between 3 and 4 a.m. Friday at Midway International Airport -- Midway’s greatest hourly deluge since 1928.

WGN’s Chicago Weather Center compiled the top Friday Chicago-area, 4-inch or more rainfall tallies in Cook and DuPage Counties:

• Midway International Airport (Burbank) - 5.5
• Bloomingdale (DuPage) - 5.45 (possibly 2-day total)
• Countryside (Cook) - 4.69
• Bedford Park (Cook) - 4.51
• Chicago Ridge (Cook) - 4.51
• Worth (Cook) - 4.29 inches
• Westmont (DuPage) - 4.05

See the Chicago Weather Center’s complete list.

The National Weather Service also recorded huge, 2-day rainfall totals of 4-inches or more in DuPage and Cook between 7 p.m. Wednesday through 7 a.m. Friday:

• Westmont (DuPage) - 5.30
• Glen Ellyn (DuPage) - 5.20
• Oak Lawn (Cook) - 5.05
• Elmhurst (DuPage) - 4.41
• Darien (DuPage) - 4.35
• Lisle Morton Arboretum (DuPage) - 4.33
• LaGrange Park (DuPage) - 4.26
• Burr Ridge (DuPage) - 4.18
• Downers Grove (DuPage) - 4.08

See the National Weather Service’s complete list.

Flash flood warnings issued by the Chicago National Weather Service remain in effect for southern Cook and DuPage counties through 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Some locations that may experience flooding include Addison, Alsip, Berwyn, Blue Island, Brookfield, Burnham, Burr Ridge, Calumet City, Carol Stream, Chatham, Cicero, Dolton, Downers Grove, Elmhurst and Forest Park.