June air conditioning running twice the normal pace

It was difficult enough to find a day warm enough to shed a sweater or jacket last summer—let alone run an air conditioner. Statewide, the season was the 5th coolest since 1895. But across Illinois—and Chicago in particular—the opening days of June 2005 couldn’t be more different. Hot weather has arrived—and early too! At Midway Airport, not only have this month’s first nine days averaged 8° above normal and 6° above last year, but together, they rank 6th warmest of all June 1-10 periods at the South Side site since 1928.
While rainfall here continues sub-par overall, drenching downpours erupted beneath 52,000 ft. high t-storms in the Plains Thursday along with a swarm of more than three dozen twisters. By late evening, 200 reports of severe weather had flooded into NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. Rains exceeded 2.50” in an hour over parts of Missouri.