Seventy one years ago today, on July 24, 1934, Chicago established its all-time official high temperature of 105º, and today’s triple-digit maximums should not be far behind. A hot air dome that sent temperatures soaring to as high as 110º in eastern South Dakota Saturday will surge into the Midwest today, bringing Chicago its first 100º weather in six years.
A long-lasting line of thunderstorms called a derecho that packed winds as high as 85 m.p.h. formed just north of the area of heat and humidity Saturday, sweeping out a swath of wind damage from northeast South Dakota to southeast Wisconsin. The storms dissipated just before reaching northeast Illinois, depriving this region of much needed rain, but sparing the area from power outages just before the intense heat moves in.
Hot weather will last into Monday before northeast winds bring much more comfortable conditions for the remainder of the week.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
