Not since the 99° high at Midway Airport on Sept. 29, 1953 has a temperature been as hot as Tuesday’s 95° this late in the year here. The reading tied as the 4th highest of 2005. O’Hare’s official 94° high was 20° above normal and only 4° from the 1939 record. It was the area’s fourth consecutive day of 90s, something which has happened in a September here an average of once every six years—and it’s quite possibly the last string of multiple 90° highs we’ll see this year.
A total of 62-daytime highs have pushed above 90° after September 14 in the city since 1928—including the area’s latest recorded 90°+ temperature (94°) on Oct. 6, 1963. But, on average, Chicagoans have encountered only one additional 90° high from this date forward—and in only 40% of all years on record.
September 2005 is now 8.4° above normal—5.7° warmer than the same period a year ago.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
