January 2007 Archives

You wouldn’t know it from Wednesday’s bitter chill. But, January, 2007 finished 9th warmest of all the Januarys on record at Midway Airport since 1928. The month’s temperature averaged 7° above normal. That still wasn’t mild enough to challenge January one year ago which ended up 6° milder.
Wednesday’s official 3° morning low at O’Hare (4° at Midway) is the winter’s coldest to date but likely to be eclipsed by the chill expected to take hold this weekend and last well into next week. For 18 consecutive hours which finally ended at midday Wednesday, sub-zero wind chills gripped the Chicago area. Northwest suburban morning lows registered -2° at McHenry, -1° at Mundelein and Barrington and 0° at DeKalb.
The snow flurries here Thursday are falling on the northern flank of a snow system which prompted winter weather advisories across 14 southern states late Wednesday.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Bitterly cold air grips Chicago Tuesday. The gusty winds which greet area residents this morning have delivered a reinforcing blast of frigid air which is to slash peak readings to the upper teens Tuesday while limiting wind chills to -6 to +6°. Flurries will fall a fourth consecutive day while stacking up impressively in the same SW Michigan/north-central Indiana areas hit so hard by lake snow over the weekend. 6-12" totals are possible there. But, while the winter snowpack is flourishing there, cold air’s skimpy moisture content is only to support flurries here-and light fluffy ones at that. Cold air impacts the crystallization process by which snowflakes form. The irony is that while frigid air holds a fraction of the moisture of warmer air, snowflakes are often larger. That’s why Midway Airport received 0.5" of snow Monday and Berwyn was home to a 0.8" accumulation—five to eight times the snowfall which typically occurs with the 0.01" water content in Monday’s snow.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Today residents of southwestern Lower Michigan and northwest Indiana will navigate through Sunday’s lake-effect snows that occasionally lowered visibilities to near zero, drifted over highways and created extremely hazardous driving conditions. The southwest corner of Lower Michigan, more specifically Berrien County, was hardest hit with a foot or more commonplace. Benton Harbor measured 20 inches. Northeast Illinois received only light snow associated with the cold front that passed through with more than half of the area receiving just a trace to less than a half inch. More light snow similar to that experienced Sunday will occur over Chicago today.
Readings will average about 8 degrees below normal through midweek, then a strong cold front will pull very cold air into Chicago area Thursday, followed by a reinforcing front Friday that will bring bitterly cold arctic air with subzero temps and dangerous wind chills next weekend.
--By Paul Dailey, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

With today’s cold start and even colder ending next Saturday, high temperatures for the week ahead will average nearly 11° below normal. Actually a brief mid-week “warm-up” into the mid 20s may be the highest readings Chicagoans will see for the next couple weeks as the Siberian Express is expected to kick in full force by next weekend. At that point an upper jet stream flow pattern will be well established, effectively steering arctic air out of northern Russia around the Arctic circle and northern Alaska through central Canada into the north-central United States. Northeastern Illinois will experience predominantly northwesterly winds, which will periodically turn on the lake effect “snow machine” in northern Indiana and southwestern Lower Michigan. Today is a good example, with a lake-effect snow warning in effect for that exact area, where specifically La Porte, Elkhart, and St. Joseph counties expect 6 to 10 inches of snow.
--By Paul Dailey, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Not even a quarter of Chicago’s late January/early February daytime highs match or exceed Friday’s 43° reading—the area’s mildest in 14 days. The last time it was as “warm” here was Jan. 12 when the high hit 48°. It was even milder Friday at Midway (44°) and the lakefront (46°). But, atmospheric changes likely to slash this winter’s ranking as the area’s 13th mildest since 1871 loom. Saturday’s moderate-intensity chill blossoms into a full-blown arctic outbreak Saturday night and Sunday, tempered only by the area’s limited snow cover. But, snow showers are likely to produce a dusting or light accumulations by Sunday in Chicago. Residents of the north-central Indiana and southwest Michigan snowbelts prepare for another eruption of heavier lake-induced snowfall Sat. night/Sunday. It’s a cycle likely to repeat in the coming week.
There’s a good deal of wintry weather ahead: 43% of this area’s “normal” snow often falls beyond this date.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Pilot and friend of this blog and the WGN weather team Anson Mount shares Friday morning's sunrise at Waukegan Airport. The day dawned with southwest winds in the wake of an overnight warm frontal passage. The Chicago area is being treated to its first day above 32° in 11! But, the warming is temporary: Strong cooling sweeps the area over the weekend with frigid arctic air back in firm control Sunday, and models still predict the potential for this winter's most brutal cold spell later next week and the following (Super Bowl) weekend. Many thanks, Anson, for sharing this with us!!
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Few heading to work on this date 40 years ago realized the storm through which they trudged would end up lasting 29 hours and producing wind gusts as high as 69 m.p.h.—becoming this city’s worst blizzard on record. By the time snow ended late the following morning, an estimated 20,000 vehicles, and 500 CTA buses had been abandoned on area expressways, unable to move in snow drifts piled 4-6 feet high. The crippling winter storm occurred only two days after a record 65° high—warmth which included the Chicago area’s only tornado watch to be issued in January.
Friday’s brief but impressive temperature surge is a far cry from the weather of January, 1967. Gusty winds above ground as the day opens mix down to the surface pushing temperatures within striking distance of 40°—the first above freezing reading here in 11 days and most likely the last we’ll see over the coming two weeks.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

The first and most modest of at least three surges of arctic air predicted to invade more and more of the Lower 48 over the next two weeks is in place Thursday. But, in a winter as mild as this one, even modest cold surges are noticeable. Wind chills hover in single digits or low teens as thermometer readings struggle to move out of the low 20s. That’s lower than typical late January temperatures—but a far cry from the intense chill which can occur this time of year. Weather records reveal two-thirds of the coldest winter weeks which have occurred since 1960 have begun before this date. Other than in far western suburbs, the sub-zero chill which gripped the North Woods of Wisconsin and upper Michigan early Wednesday, has failed to reach the city proper and its close-in suburbs. That’s unusual. Only 15% of cold seasons since 1871 have failed to produce at least one 0° (or lower) temperature by this date.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Lake effect snows will build south into sections of the Indiana lake snowbelt Wednesday night into Thursday. But, lake snow has already accumulated across western Michigan. John Gehr took these photos at Holland State Park. He reports 5-6" are on the ground and that 2" of fresh snow is down as of 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Many thanks to John for sharing these shots with us!
-Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

PHOTO COURTESY: John Gehr

Wednesday marks the city’s 9th day below freezing—Chicago’s longest string of sub-32° readings in 3 years. The last time temperatures failed to reach 32° for such an extended period of time was between January 22 and 31, 2004. A full January here typically sees 16 sub-freezing days and 4 days below zero at Midway Airport.
Temperatures have retreated noticeably from the double-digit daily surpluses which characterized this month’s opening two weeks. January 2007 maintains an impressive 9° surplus. But last January was even milder with temperatures 4.5° above this year’s 30.7° average.
South Florida, site of the upcoming Super Bowl XLI a week from Sunday, was treated to record warmth Tuesday. Miami topped out at 85° and Ft. Lauderdale’s high reached 86°.
Chicago Midway’s 7” seasonal snow tally is among the seven lowest on record since 1928.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

John Lykowski sent us this photo of the Chicago skyline cheering on the Chicago Bears. John tell us he shot this image last Saturday from Adler Planetarium, the night before Chicago’s NFC Championship game. Thanks for the great shot John!

PHOTO COURTESY: John Lykowski, Lykowski Studios

Generally 2 to 3 inches of snow covers the Chicago area after Sunday’s gentle midwinter storm. Much heavier snowfall occurred in Iowa, where over 8 inches covers much of the west and central portions of that state. Northern and central Illinois reported snow depths ranging from 2 to 4 inches.
For the week ahead, the jet stream flow aloft over the western Great Lakes will be out of the northwest, and Chicago is expected to lie on the southern fringe of periodic incursions of cold Canadian air. Thus Chicago’s temperatures for the week ahead will average close to or slightly below normal.
This Saturday may see a brief “warm-up” with the first above freezing readings since Jan. 15. However, this may be very deceptive as computer models indicate the coldest air of the season—on a direct track from the arctic—is scheduled to follow a cold front into Illinois Saturday night, giving single-digit highs and subzero wind chills next Sunday.
--By Paul Dailey, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Bears and Saints football fans driving to Soldiers Field should be aware that heavier snowfall in the hours just prior to game time could create very hazardous driving conditions, and an early start might be very beneficial.
Low pressure laden with rain and some freezing rain along and south of the Ohio River is expected to spread snow over much of Illinois and the Midwest today. The Chicago area will most likely measure at least two inches with greater amounts possible in southern sections. Gusty east winds off Lake Michigan could drop Chicago’s afternoon wind chills into the upper teens.
Snow Advisories were posted from Nebraska and Kansas to Ohio Saturday evening. Accumulations up to a half-foot or even more could occur in portions of southern Iowa and northern Missouri. Two to four inches could cover much of Illinois by the end of the day. Snow should end Sunday night. Next snow for Chicago is expected mid-week.
--By Paul Dailey, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

The stage appears set for quite a spectacle as the Bears and Saints hit the gridiron Sunday afternoon. Snow—potentially this winter’s 2nd heaviest in the city—upper teen wind chills and a biting SE wind—appear likely to rendezvous with the 2 p.m. kick-off.
Though the parade of newsmaking deadly winter storms which has assaulted the nation’s Heartland in quick succession over the past week has largely bypassed Chicago, the latest in the series, barring any unexpected last-minute changes, appears likely to produce a moderate 2-4” snowfall in Chicago Sunday. Only the Nov. 30-Dec. 1 snow has been heavier in the city, producing 6.3” at O’Hare and 3” at Midway.
The current forecast reasoning suggests the steadiest and potentially heaviest snow may fall from mid or late morning until mid-afternoon Sunday—through perhaps the first part of the Bears game—when snowfall is to become more occasional.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

This winter’s ranking as the 9th warmest here in the past 137 years—still mild enough to qualify as the city’s warmest winter in 47 years (since 1959-60)—is under assault. Cold air pouring south from Canada limits Friday’s highs to the 20s for the third time this week and arrives with wind chills ranging from 5 to 14°. With a high of 25° predicted, it becomes Chicago’s fourth consecutive sub-freezing day, the first such string since December 2005—13 moths ago.
Thursday’s flurries left 0.2” at Midway Airport—the site’s 5th measurable snow this winter. As with most other midwest weather observation sites, snowfall this season has been paltry. Chicago has received 45% of the 18” considered normal by this date.
A third major winter storm is bearing down on New Mexico, Oklahoma and north Texas. Albuquerque, N.M., with 22" of snow on the books this season (11.5" is normal) is threatened by 6-10" of new snow by Saturday.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Chicagoans shivered through the area’s third coldest daytime temperature this winter Wednesday. Readings colder than the day’s 21° high haven’t occurred here in the 41 days since a bone-chilling 17° high back on Dec. 7. The past four days have produced temperatures in Chicago 13° below the Jan. 14-17 period a year ago. But, to the west, Des Moines, Iowa has recorded readings 24° colder, and both Omaha, Neb. and Kansas City, Mo. have run nearly 30° colder than a comparable period one year ago.
New winter storm watches were posted late Wednesday as a third major winter storm targets New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas on Friday. It’s an area reeling from the effect of back-to-back ice and snowstorms. The storms are just the latest systems riding an El Niño-strengthened sub tropical jet stream roaring across the South.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Much of the country, in stark contrast to the preceding five weeks, is in the grip of winter’s largest cold air mass to date. Tuesday’s Indiana/Michigan lake snows, which topped out at 9” at St. Joseph, Mich., and 8” at Fish Lake in La Porte County, Ind., are now history. But, the chill which has followed is the most formidable here in 11 months.
Morning lows were expected to vary widely across the Chicago area, ranging from 11° on the city’s lakefront to as low as -4° over the region’s heaviest cover of snow west toward the Fox Valley, DeKalb, and Rockford, and north through McHenry and other Wisconsin border counties. These readings are well below the coldest reading all last January: the 17° O’Hare minimum last Jan. 26.
This winter has a lot of catching up to do in terms of cold weather and snow. Chicago’s seen just 27 percent of its typical subfreezing daytime highs and just 41 percent the amount of snow considered normal by Jan. 17.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

The Chicago area heads into only its 6th night of single digits this season Tuesday night and may sink to sub-zero levels in the coldest suburban areas. Monday’s snowfall, though a fraction what it might have been had Sunday night’s precipitation fallen as snow, lays the foundation for the chill. That snow, besides bringing a string of snowless 44 winter days to an end—something which hadn’t happened since snow records began in the 1884-85 season—provides the “track” over which the arctic express is able to run. The incoming cold air produced a -27° low at Laramie, Wyo. Monday.
Lake snows pelt sections of the Indiana/Michigan snowbelt Tuesday. Snowfall off Lake Superior exceeded 14” at Marquette, Michigan Monday.
On borrowed time is record warmth in the East. Highs Monday hit 79° at Charleston, S.C. and 74° at Beckley, West Virginia.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

The weekend storm that spared Chicago brought ice and snow to much of the Midwest this past weekend. While an ice storm brings visual beauty, the weight of large ice accumulations can bring down trees and power lines leaving entire communities without heat and power, as well as causing countless automobile accidents and injuries from slips and falls. Chicagoans could have been looking at similar landscapes today had temperatures here been a degree or two colder Sunday night.

Emilee Rader, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, sent us these pictures of the ice after last night’s ice storm in Ann Arbor.

"...by the time we started walking (around 9am) the streets and sidewalks were no longer icy, but every inch of plant life that we could see was covered in at least half an inch of ice. it was really beautiful."-Emilee Rader

PHOTO COURTESY: Emilee Rader

It’s been more than a month since Chicago has experienced winter’s cold and snow, but they will finally return in the wake of this weekend’s storm that brought a wintry mix of precipitation to Chicago and the Midwest. While flooding rains soaked the southern Midwest, an icy combination of rain and freezing rain, sleet and snow glazed areas from Missouri to southern Wisconsin with the ice headed for Michigan on Monday. Though icy rain was still falling in Chicago Sunday evening, a change over to snow was expected to occur overnight, bringing the city its first snow cover since Dec. 12. The slower-than-expected shift to snow was likely to reduce snow accumulations in the city and areas south, but locations close to the Wisconsin border could still receive 4 or more inches of snow.
An arctic blast that kept highs below 0° in portions of the Dakotas on Sunday will reach Chicago early this week, bringing possibly the first subzero lows to Chicago since last Feb. 18.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

After a month-long hiatus, winter is blasting the nation’s Heartland with a brutal combination of ice, snow and cold. The Chicago area, facing a major post Bears game snowstorm, will get off rather easy in comparison to areas from Oklahoma to western Illinois that are currently entombed in glaze, the result of a weekend-long ice storm. Hundreds of thousands have lost electricity there as trees and power lines crashed under the weight of the ice.
South of the glazed areas, up to 6" of rain brought flash flooding to northeast Texas and adjacent Louisiana, while high winds damaged 10 homes in San Marcos in south central Texas. An arctic blast in the wake of the storm will send readings below zero in many areas for the first time this winter.
With the cold air pouring in over fresh snow cover, subzero temps are expected in the Chicago area both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Trees sagged under the weight of accumulating ice in western Illinois late Friday, while ice-laden power lines snapped in Oklahoma and tree branches crashed to earth under up to 1.5” of ice in southern Missouri. As bad as the situation was, this was but the first stage of a mammoth ice storm expected to linger most of the weekend across parts of seven states from Texas to Illinois. Projections of temperatures above St. Louis Saturday—an area expected to be hard hit by this winter’s second major ice storm to date—illustrated the problem. While ground-level readings hover in the 20s, readings 3,000 feet aloft are to reach 46°. It’s a set-up that allows rain forming there to fall into subfreezing air, glazing many surfaces.
The cold weather also threatens California with one of its 10 worst cold spells ever. Numerous temperature records are in jeopardy in the Los Angeles area. Similar cold waves in 1990 and 1998 produced billions of dollars in losses to the state’s fruit growers.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

The speed with which winter’s long-absent chill swept back across the Plains and Rockies was breathtaking Thursday. By evening, springlike warmth, firmly entrenched only 24 hours earlier, was just a memory, replaced by howling northerly winds and subzero or single-digit temps. Wind chills of -30° gripped an area from Montana to the Dakotas while an array of winter storm warnings were hoisted across 18 states—urging that the invading arctic air be taken seriously.
In Rapid City, S.D., where readings had reached 62° only the day before, the mercury had plunged to 3° as the sun set late Thursday—a stunning 59-degree pullback.
Winter storm watches continued for Las Vegas—a city expecting the chill to be its coldest in five years—while snow levels were predicted to drop to just 1,500 feet above sea level before the weekend, threatening snow in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles. The chill, possibly the coldest in a decade, prompted frost and freeze advisories across interior California.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Wednesday’s 30° daytime high in Chicago was the coldest in 33 days and just a hint of things to come. Larger changes loom. The area’s extended mild streak, which has propelled Winter 2006-07’s temperature rank to 5th mildest since 1871, accommodates two more days of 40s before temps plunge. The predicted downturn is part of mammoth pattern change across North America, expected to return wintry weather to much of the Lower 48 over the coming week.
Frigid arctic air is already taking hold out West. A rare winter storm watch has been issued for Las Vegas, Nevada, where the average annual snowfall is limited to an inch. As much as 1-3" may fall over parts of that area with more than 8" a possibility in nearby mountains. That city’s heaviest snow was a 9.7" accumulation which fell Jan. 10, 1949. Interior California is bracing for the coldest temperatures in a decade. And, the chill is to reach Phoenix by the weekend.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Chicagoans haven’t been greeted by temperatures colder than Wednesday’s daybreak teens in more than a month. The chill is temporary. Though daytime highs peak in the mid 30s—readings only modestly above the 29° Jan. 10 “normal” high, even milder weather is on the way. Gusty S winds return readings to the 40s Thursday into Friday in what appears likely to be the final temperature surge of the current 31-day mild spell. Weather records dating back to 1959 here reveal only 7 other spells of above normal temperatures in the winter season have reached or exceeded 30 days in length. Interestingly, one of the longer mild streaks occurred last winter and extended 48 days.
That news comes as the National Weather Service’s parent agency—NOAA—revealed Tuesday that 2006 ranked warmest nationally of any year since 1895. Annual U.S. temps have been averaging 1° F milder than a century ago.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

The extraordinary month-long mild spell, responsible for producing the mildest Chicago winter open in 75 years, sputters Tuesday. After 30 consecutive days of above normal temperatures—including three times the 137 year average number of 50° days—we’ve had 11 versus the 4 which have been typical to date since 1871—the chilliest readings in a month hit Tuesday. The city’s 34.7° average since Dec. 1 is an impressive 6.7°above normal and 8.7° milder than the same period a year ago. It ranks as the area’s 5th mildest meteorological winter period to date since official National Weather Service temperature records began more than a century ago.
A snow shower is possible from spells of cloudiness Tuesday—what’s left of an Alberta Clipper. Measurable snow has been elusive. It’s been 38 days since measurable snow here—the third longest measurable snow-free December/January period since 1885.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

A fast-moving broad area of low pressure is forecast to move southeast out of the Dakotas today, passing through Wisconsin and northern Illinois into lower Michigan and Ohio by early Tuesday. This weak “clipper” storm could leave minor accumulations of wet snow on cold and grassy surfaces, while most streets and roads will just be wet. In its wake, a chilling high pressure air mass (by recent mild standards) out of Canada will force Chicago’s Tuesday temperatures into a more seasonable range—if only for a day. A quick turnaround in the jet stream flow to the southwest will bring strong southerly surface winds back into the area Wednesday.
A slow-moving band of low pressure will give a threat of rain Thursday through Saturday. A shift to colder air next weekend may set up a more normal mid-January temperature regime for the Bears playoff game Sunday.
Severe thunderstorms and a few unconfirmed tornadoes struck along the Gulf Coast on Sunday.
--By Paul Dailey, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Chicagoans may again experience 40° temperatures today, but it will be brief with afternoon clouds and subsequent snow flurries forcing readings back into the 30s. A low pressure “clipper” system will move southeast through NE Illinois Monday spreading clouds and the first measurable snow since Dec.1 over much of area during the afternoon and night. Some light accumulations may occur especially over grass. Tuesday may be the coldest day in Chicago since Dec. 8 with wind chills in the teens. The jet stream flow aloft is expected to once again realign into a southwest-northeast orientation over the central Plains and Great Lakes by Thursday, allowing the establishment of a southerly wind fetch all the way from the Gulf of Mexico. Mild, moist air will flow up the Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley and Midwest. The subsequent development of a strong low pressure system could mean heavy rains for Chicago next weekend.
--By Paul Dailey, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Unusually mild mid-winter temperatures dominate much of North America—but also Europe and even western Russia. Across the Atlantic in the U.K., London surged past its 42° normal to hit 53° Friday while perennially cold Moscow hit 35°‚ an impressive 21 degrees above the 14° high considered normal. But it may be the U.S. East Coast which headlines the mild weather Saturday. The 71° high predicted in New York City is not only 35 degrees above normal, it’s just a degree shy of the warmest January temperature recorded there since 1869—a Jan. 26, 1950, high of 72°. Other 70s are expected in Washington and Philadelphia.
In another unseasonable twist, tornado-bearing thunderstorms raked South Carolina. A twister in Spartanburg County near Moore produced a damage path a quarter mile long and 50 yards wide, destroying two sheds and snapping 8” diameter pine trees.
Interestingly, Chicago’s 50° high Friday exceeded Las Vegas’s 47°.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

Thursday’s 1.40” of rain at Midway Airport is but the latest in a growing list of unusual weather events which have defined the sputtering 2006-07 winter season. January, after all, is the month best known for snow—not rain! It marks the second significant winter rain occurring here since the big snow which opened the season on Dec. 1. A typical January unleashes 12.6” of snow at Midway and 11.3” at O’Hare—the greatest of any month. Yet Thursday’s precipitation fell as rain and equalled 72% of normal full-January total in a single day!
Chicago’s dramatic temperature rebound promises a third day of 50° highs at Midway Airport, an event that has happened only three other times in January’s opening week. Meteorological Winter, 2006-07, which opened 6th coldest on record since 1871 after its first eight days, has surged to 12th warmest of the past 137 years.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

On average, Chicago’s temperatures climb to 50º or higher on only one day in 22 during the first week of January, and so the back-to-back 50° readings expected today and again on Friday stand in genuinely rarefied territory.
Chicago weather historian Frank Wachowski tells us those 50° readings, should they occur, would bring the city’s tally of 50° days to 14 since Dec. 1 (the beginning of meteorological winter). That exceeds by six days the normal full-winter average of eight days at or above 50º.
Temperatures dip sharply over the weekend with the arrival of Canadian air—a reminder that this is, after all, January. Surprisingly, readings remain above the normal daily high/low values of 30º/15º despite the temperature downturn.
Longer range, a major weather pattern change promises greatly increased snow chances toward mid January.
--By Richard Koeneman, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

“Mild” has appeared in Chicago forecasts in recent days with almost monotonous regularity, the continuation of a sustained period of above-normal temperatures that began here on Dec. 10. Judging from comments received at the WGN-TV weather center, those mild conditions are just fine with most of you because, among other things, they mean lower heating bills and snow- and ice-free commutes. On the other hand, we are hearing increasingly impatient laments from area snowbirds who are bemoaning the lack of snow. A weak “El-Nino event” (sea-surface temperatures running slightly above normal in the tropical Pacific Ocean) is currently in progress, and that usually alters atmospheric flow patterns in such a way that Chicago experiences relatively mild and snow-free winters. However, some computer models suggest a return to lower temperatures toward the middle of the month.
--By Richard Koeneman, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

The extended period of unseasonably warm weather in the Chicago area has resulted in the early emergence of spring flowers. Unfortunately, a rude awakening awaits them when the cold weather finally returns. Our thanks to George and Vickie Patryn from South Elgin and Bill Iwans from Sycamore for sharing their photos.

Steve Kahn WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune Meteorologist

Photo by Bill Iwans Sycamore, Ill.

Photo by Bill Iwans Sycamore, Ill.

Photo by George and Vickie Patryn South Elgin, Ill.

The persistently mild temperature regime that closed out 2006 gives no indication that its strength is abating, at least in the short run. In fact, Chicago’s daytime temperatures are forecast to surge above 50º on three of the next four days, a feat that has been accomplished only twice (1897 and 1998) in 136 years of Chicago weather history. The 1998 occurrence brought daily highs, Jan. 2-5, of 50º, 58º, 56º and 55º. The city’s normal daily high on each day during that period is 30º.
Midway Airport weather historian Frank Wachowski tells us that December 2006 temperatures climbed to 50º or higher on 11 days during the month at that observation site, and that ties the record of 11 such days recorded in 1998.
Yet another indication of the strength and persistence of the mild anomaly: Despite the arrival of “cold” air yesterday, the city’s high temperature climbed to 43º—13 degrees above the day’s normal high.
--By Richard Koeneman, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist