Thursday’s attention-grabbing mid-continent temperature plunge swept sections of 20 states and is likely to linger in coming days, producing Chicago’s coolest weekend in 21 weeks. Not since the 64° and 54° highs Saturday and Sunday, May 14-15, have cooler daytime highs been observed here.
Predicted temperatures Friday—particularly those in the far western suburbs away from the “warming” influence of Lake Michigan---are to rise no higher than the 50s, the coolest readings there since May 15.
The cold air’s swift arrival replaced record heat, which had held for days in sections of the Plains.
Snow on the ground in Dickinson, North Dakota amplified the chill early Thursday. Readings bottomed out at 11°—an 80° retreat from the past weekend’s 91° high there. The chill sent temperatures tumbling over a 1,000+ mile swath from Canada to Mexico.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
