Chicagoans anxious for a return of summer’s heat will have to keep waiting. The consensus of computer models is that a major weather pattern change is in the works, and though it will take several days for the entire realignment to occur, its implications for Chicago are significant. Area temperatures that have been running near or below seasonal normals in recent days will be heading into the surplus category by next weekend.
It will be warmer—readings into the 80s—but it certainly won’t be a heat wave.
For most of us, 90º is the definition of a hot day. Midway Airport logs 24 of them in an average year, the first one typically arriving on May 29. With no 90s yet in sight, this year’s first occurrence will be delayed.
Midway’s temperature climatology suggests patience in that regard. Every summer has delivered 90° temperatures, but in 1928 the season’s first 90° day did not arrive until July 2.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
