Temperatures soared to 90° at Grand Forks and Bismarck, N.D., Thursday, but will struggle just to make the 50s in those cities this weekend. That’s significant because steering winds are guiding the same unseasonably warm air which pushed North Dakota readings 15° above normal into the Chicago area. Friday’s predicted high of 87° is to be this area’s warmest in 16 days.
Warm air—even when it’s very warm— isn’t quite as stifling this time of year. With days more than two hours shorter than June 21 (our longest day), the sun a bit closer to the horizon and less directly overhead, and sunlight intensities down 30% from two and half months earlier, warm readings feel less intense than they might have back in June.
This year’s monsoon rains in the Southwest have been the heaviest in 16 years. Chicagoans may be surprised to hear Tucson has recorded 9.83” since June —more than Chicago’s 9.58”
-Tom Skilling
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
