It felt almost springlike across the Chicago area Tuesday. The afternoon high surged to 56°—just 6° off the mildest Valentine’s Day temperature on the books here: 62° in 1954. It was 2006’s second warmest day. Only January 12 produced a higher temperature (57°). The unseasonable warmth established new high temperature records for the date in Cedar Rapids (63°) and Dubuque (59°)—both in Iowa. The 59° in nearby Rockford tied the record.
But, near 0° temperatures from North Dakota through northern Minnesota late Tuesday signaled the big weather changes are on the way.
The coming weekend threatens to be one of the coldest of the winter. Only the stronger sunlight of February has a chance of tempering the full impact of the incoming cold air, which may arrive over a fresh cover of snow most favored over northern counties north into Wisconsin.
-Tom Skilling
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
