It was hot downstate Friday. Triple-digit temperatures dominated the scene. Highs of 100° at both St. Louis and Belleville marked the fourth time in 2005 that daytime readings reached the century mark there.
Only a year ago, jackets and sweaters were in fashion across the region as Midwesterners shivered through one of the summer’s many cool spells. The Aug. 12, 2004, high in St. Louis, as an example, topped out at just 69°—a reading 31 degrees below Friday’s sizzling 100° maximum.
A year-to-year comparison at Chicago between last year’s 62° high and the 85° reading achieved Friday was equally dramatic.
There’s been no shortage of warm air in Chicago this season. Friday’s 85° high was the 51st daytime reading as high or higher since June 1. At no time since records began here in 1871 has a meteorological summer hit 85° or higher as frequently. The closest was 1988 with 50 days of 85°-plus highs.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
