Never over the 134-year term of weather records here has April started with more consecutive days of near or above-normal temperatures. Despite the relative chill of recent days, the month still hasn’t produced a single high below 50°. There hasn’t been an April which has failed to log at least one day with highs in the 40s or lower. The opening 15 days of the month are nearly 7 degrees above normal. And, that surplus is likely to grow in the days ahead as 2005’s most extended period of mild weather takes up residence.
Cloud cover returns Saturday after a three-day absence. High clouds off t-storms, which are to flare upstream (to the northwest) of Chicago in Iowa and Minnesota, begin filtering the day’s sun—then become thicker and better-developed Saturday night, when an incoming disturbance threatens clusters of showers and t-storms. The degree to which Sunday warms is dependent on how soon clouds depart and the strength of lake winds.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
