It isn’t often a 90° temperature occurs here the day before autumn begins. But, Wednesday’s predicted 89° high—a reading 16° above the normal—will come close, and may surge within a few degrees of the 92° record high for the date set in 1970. In the 135 years of weather records since 1871, a 90° temperature has occurred only 26 times beyond September 21 at the city’s official observation sites.
Record breaking heat has taken hold in the Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast as well as areas close by over the past week. Rescue operations in and around New Orleans have been forced to proceed in near-triple digit heat—readings well above the mid 80s normal there this time of year. A series of record highs were recorded Tuesday including 102° at Little Rock, Arkansas and in Shreveport, Louisiana. Lake Charles, to the west of New Orleans, broiled at 100° while Vicksburg and Greenwood, Miss. reached 99°.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
