Illinois now has a new third-largest city after new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau showed one Chicago suburb dethroning another for the title.

While Chicago and Aurora held steady as the state’s two largest cities, Naperville has now leaped over Joliet to take the No. 3 spot.

According to the latest estimates, which list the estimated population of each municipality as of July 1, 2024, Naperville now has a population of 153,124, a growth of nearly 2,000 residents from 2023.

Joliet is now the state’s fourth-largest city, with a population of 151,837. The two Chicago suburbs rank 178th and 179th across the United States, respectively.

The growth echoes population increases seen in both Chicago and nationwide, with the city of Chicago’s population by over 22,000 residents between mid-2023 and mid-2024, according to the Census Bureau.

In the same time period, Rockford, the state’s fifth-largest city, grew by just under 700 residents, reaching an estimated population of 147,486.

Another Chicago suburb ranked as the state’s sixth-largest city, with west suburban Elgin growing by just under 800 residents with an estimated population of 114,701.

The state’s seventh-largest city, Springfield, was the most populous municipality in the state to see a year-over-year population decline, dropping by just over 50 residents in the above timeframe.

Closing out the state’s top 10 cities in population were downstate Peoria and Champaign at No. 8 and No. 9 respectively, with north suburban Waukegan ranking as the state’s 10th-largest city.

More information on recent Census Bureau estimates can be found here.

Read More: Illinois dust storm tracker: Avoid these streets in Chicago, Naperville and Bloomington

At approximately 6:45 PM CDT, a massive dust wall was observed moving north at 45 to 50 mph, sweeping across the Chicagoland area from Sandwich to Chicago’s South Side and extending into northwest Indiana.

Automated weather stations, including Chicago Midway Airport, reported wind gusts near 60 mph and visibility reduced to less than a quarter mile.

Northern Illinois Counties Hit Hard

The warning covers wide swaths of northeastern Illinois, including:

Cook County: Englewood, Austin, Summit, Oak Lawn, South Shore, Roseland, and Chicago’s Loop area.

DeKalb County: Hinckley and southeastern portions.

DuPage County: Lisle, Westmont, Oakbrook Terrace, and Glendale Heights.

Kane County: Aurora, Elgin, Gilberts, and South Elgin.

Kendall, La Salle, and Will Counties: Lisbon, Sheridan, Preston Heights, and areas near Joliet.

Northwest Indiana Also in Danger Zone

The dust storm is also hammering northern Indiana, affecting:

Lake County: Hammond, Whiting, Griffith, East Chicago, and Dyer.

Porter County: Valparaiso, Chesterton, Burns Harbor, Beverly Shores, and South Haven.

Hazards and Safety Alerts

Visibility: Dropping below ¼ mile.

Wind Speeds: Gusts exceeding 50–60 mph.

Impact: “Dangerous, life-threatening travel,” according to emergency management officials.

Several major interstates are impacted, including I-55, I-57, I-80, I-90, I-94, I-294, and I-355 in Illinois, and Interstates 65, 80, 90, and 94 in Indiana.

What to Do

The NWS urges all drivers caught in the storm to pull off the road, turn off lights, and keep feet off the brake to avoid rear-end collisions.

This is the third dust storm warning issued by NWS Chicago this season — a rare and dangerous event for the region. Residents are advised to monitor updates closely and stay indoors until the storm passes.

More than 43,000 people in Illinois and more than 84,000 in northwest Indiana were without power Friday morning after severe thunderstorms swept through the Chicago area, leaving behind major storm damage, including downed power lines and snapped trees that fell on houses and cars.

The damage comes as another round of potentially strong-to-severe storms threaten the Chicago area, starting in the afternoon.

As of 5:20 a.m., 43,674 Illinois customers were facing power outages, ComEd’s outage map showed. The majority of those outages were in Cook County, where more than 30,000 people were without power.

Thousands of power outages were also recorded in Will County, the map showed, along with hundreds more in McHenry, Lake and DuPage Counties.

In an alert on ComEd’s website, the utility company said crews were actively working to restore outages.

“Based on the history of similar storms of this size, across the ComEd service area, we expect 80% of outages to be restored by 11 p.m. on Friday, 5/16 with remaining outages restored by 3 p.m. on Saturday, 5/17,” the alert said.

In northern Indiana, NIPSCO said approximately 84,600 customers were without power due to heavy rainfall and 60 mile-per-hour winds.

“Due to the extent of the damage and the ongoing inclement weather conditions, an estimate of when power will be restored is not able to be determined at this time,” the utility said.

In Chicago, the storm delayed Beyoncé’s show at Soldier Field for several hours, with photos and video posted to social media showing rain pouring down on the venue.

The storms also led to area-wide tornado watches, and briefly caused a ground stop at O’Hare International Airport.

In the suburbs, multiple wind gusts of nearly 70 miles per hour were reported in DeKalb County, with powerful winds knocking down traffic lights in suburban Lombard.

Branches were broken, trees snapped in half and roof damage was reported in an area of Manhattan near Sweedler Road and Gougar Road after the storms tore through Will County, officials said.

Large hail was also present all around the area, especially in Lake County in Illinois, where golf ball-size hail was reported in Winthrop Harbor and Gurnee, according to trained weather spotters.

Lake County also saw plenty of wind damage, with a tree smashing into a house in Antioch.

In Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood early Friday morning, photos showed a massive downed tree on parked cars and blocking the entire road.

More severe storms possible

Friday’s forecast calls for a warm and mostly sunny day with highs in the mid 80s. And while most of the area is expected to stay dry, there is a chance for an isolated, strong-to-severe storm in the afternoon and evening, the NBC 5 Storm Team said, especially to the southeast and in northwest Indiana.

According to the Storm Prediction Center, northwest Indiana and some of Chicago’s southeastern suburbs including Kankakee, were at a “slight” risk of severe weather, which ranks as level two of five. The rest of northeastern Illinois was at a “marginal” risk, which ranks as level one.

“Scattered severe thunderstorms are possible late this afternoon into early this evening,” the National Weather Service said, “mainly for areas along and east of Interstate 55.”

According to the NWS, the main severe weather threats are large hail and damaging winds, with gusts outside storms as high as 45 mph.

Fire weather watch

All of northeastern Illinois will go under a fire weather watch beginning at 10 a.m. due to the strong, southerly winds and low humidity.

“Any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly,” the NWS said. “Outdoor burning is not recommended.”

Into the weekend, temperatures are expected to dip, the NBC 5 Storm Team said, with more spring-like weather in the 60s.