The last time mid-winter temperatures were any higher than those we’ve experienced over the past 43 days was the Winter of 1932-1933. This year’s 36.0° average temperature since Dec. 23—a reading 11.4° above the 24.6° long term average—was exceeded that winter by just 0.6°. The February which followed underwent stunning changes. Weather balloons weren’t launched in that era, so it’s impossible to know precisely what role any shift in high altitude steering winds played in the arctic outbreak which followed.
The temperature plunge here was breathtaking and hit within 8 days of February’s open. From 48° on the 1st, Chicago’s temperatures plunged 67° to -19° the morning of Feb. 9. Surface weather maps indicated a massive arctic high, boasting a barometric pressure exceeding 30.65” crashed southward into the country from Canada to produce to temperature dive. The chill didn’t last. Highs in the 50s returned in the month’s final week.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
