The sun sets across the Chicago metro area Thursday evening 28 minutes later than just a month ago—at 4:50 p.m. versus 4:23 p.m. back on Dec. 21. The hours of sunlight are on the rise, albeit slowly across much of the northern hemisphere. In the next 4 days, the sun returns for 77 minutes in Barrow, Alaska for the first time in that arctic coastal location since the long winter sunset on Nov. 18. The trend toward longer days is important because it will eventually have a major impact on temperatures. An early impact of the increased sun, though small, occurs this weekend as Chicago’s normal high rises from 29 to 30°.
Mild temperatures resurge Thursday on gusty SSW winds. The mercury passes 40° Thursday afternoon for the 12th time this month, well above the 7 days of such “warmth” which have occurred on average over the entire month of January here since 1871.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
