January 2005’s final weekend has arrived‚—and with a temperature rebound underway! Readings by Friday afternoon reached 27° here—quite an improvement over the 2° low here which tied for this winter’s third coldest. It was areas just east of the city which bore the brunt of the arctic air. Valparaiso, Ind., bottomed out at -3° early in the day—but, in Michigan, Alpena established a new record with its -16° low and Flint hit -11°. Other records included -16° at Albany, -18° at Syracuse and -27° at Watertown—all in New York state.
The Deep South was in the grip of a winter storm late Friday. Ice accumulations up to 0.5” were predicted from Atlanta and Augusta, Ga., east into the Carolinas.
Moist air running up and over the retreating arctic air mass is behind Chicago’s cloud cover and predicted snowy spells Saturday. A second system could bring some more snow early next week.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
