Heaviest rain since Aug. 28 easing area dry spell

Humid Gulf air, noticeably absent here in the past month, is fueling the heaviest rains to hit the area since the 1.41” which fell on August 28. It’s been dry since then. Until the arrival of Friday’s rain, meteorological autumn, 2004 —the period since Sept. 1—has ranked 2nd driest of any on record since 1871. Recent dry weather is history for the moment Friday. As much 0.75” is likely to douse parts of the Chicago area. Rains of that magnitude are more common in the opening 10 days of October than one might think. Weather observations here indicate rains of 0.50” or more have fallen in the month’s opening week and a half on average 3 of 5 years.
Temperatures peaked at 75° Thursday—the second consecutive day of mid-70° temp. Back to back mid 70s have occurred in nearly half of October’s opening two weeks here.