It’s the fourteenth and final weekend of “meteorological” winter. The season, with just three days remaining, extends from December through February. The deceptively quiet weather pattern now in place masks a significant change in the upper winds which is getting underway. For much of the winter, west winds have dominated, bathing the region is mild temps. The fast fading season has produced weekends with temperatures which have paralleled that trend. Winter weekends have finished milder than normal 64% of the time since early December.
Chicagoans were treated to the 12th February day of temps 40° or higher Friday—and a 13th is predicted Sunday. But big changes lie ahead including surges of cold air, anyone of which could produce sticking snow.
Though chilly temps are predicted overall through mid-March, the month has been known to host mild air. March weather records reveal an average of twelve days at or above 50°—six of them over 60°.
-Tom Skilling
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
