The blisteringly hot air mass which is to tighten its grip on Chicago in coming days pushed 100s into northwest Wisconsin and Minnesota Friday—and may send readings within striking distance of 100° over parts of the Chicago area Sunday through Tuesday.
Portions of Duluth, Minn., more than 400 miles northwest of Chicago on Lake Superior, registered a high of 102° Friday while nearby Washburn, Wis., broiled at 101°—readings 25 degrees above normal. Official weather records in Duluth date back to the 1880s and include only three 100°-plus highs!
California’s mounting heat-related death toll reached 141 late Friday even as temperatures retreated from extreme levels for the first time in nearly two weeks. But the temperature rollback across much of the West is merely the by-product of an eastward shift in the dome of hot air.
Sixteen states reported 100s Friday. Temperature records were shattered in six of them—among them a 111° high at Pierre, S.D.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
