Summer’s never been hotter at Midway Airport. The 77.2° average temperature at the site since June 1 is the hottest on the books since observations began there in 1928. The reading is 4.7 degrees above the 77-year average and more than 6 degrees warmer than last year.
Some active clusters of thunderstorms combined with winds off the lake spared Chicago the brutal heat through which downstate residents suffered Monday. Moisture levels there were more typical of a tropical rain forest than the Midwest. In combination with triple-digit air temperatures, heat indexes soared into dangerous territory, reaching 110° or more in locations as close as Bloomington (111°) and Pontiac (116°).
Chicago’s relatively restrained 89° high at O’Hare was offset by the year’s muggiest dew points. At 3 a.m. Monday, O’Hare’s dew point hit 76°, while Northerly Island on the city’s lakefront soared to 79° around 9 p.m. Monday.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
