Update 6:22 p.m.: A severe thunderstorm moving through Evanston has led to a shutdown of the Custer Fair for the evening.
The storm, according to a severe thunderstorm warning issued by the National Weather Service at 5:25 p.m. was expected to deliver up to 60 mile per hour winds and up to quarter-size hail.
Fire officials ordered closure of the fair just as the rain started to fall not far from the fair site in the Main Street Station shopping district.
Early reports were that different areas of the city received between and inch and more than two inches of rain from the storm in less than an hour.
Update 5:59 p.m.: Shortly before 6 p.m. fire officials ordered people still at the fair to leave tents because of the danger of wind damage, and advised that if they couldn’t find shelter elsewhere they could go to Fire Station 2 at 702 Madison St.
Update 6:26 p.m.: Elsewhere in the city there were reports that Main Street was impassable due to flooding in the 2200 block and there were scattered reports of power failures and traffic signal lights out of service.
The severe thunderstorm warning now has expired, but the National Weather Service says a severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect for Evanston until 9 p.m.