Ongoing atmospheric changes as Saturday gets under way eject frigid arctic air and put in motion a dramatic 50-degree three-day temperature surge. The warming is the equivalent of a move from January to late April, only it’s condensed over a fraction of the time. From Friday morning’s 13° reading, temperatures surge to 45° Saturday and to 62° Sunday afternoon or evening. That’s shy of Sunday’s 67° record high set in 1990, but it’s still an eye-popping 20 degrees above normal—mild enough to rank among late November’s top 15 percent warmest readings on record since 1871. Friday’s 25° high was the second coldest for Nov. 25 in 135 years.
Mild air surging over retreating arctic air produced Friday evening’s dusting to 1” of snow here. But, far larger snow totals have been reported downwind of the Great Lakes. Marquette, Mich., has picked up 16.3” of snow since Wednesday, which brings its monthly total to 39.3”—that’s 22” above normal.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
