Autumns starting as wet as this one often turn drier

There hasn’t been a wetter October open at Midway Airport and many sections of the Chicago area in more than half a century. That makes Thursday’s rain-free sun/cloud mix especially appealing. With 3.90" on the books for October 2006 at the South Side observation site, the city has received 1.4 times its normal full October precipitation allotment. The total is the city’s second highest Oct. 1-4 tally. Only the opening four days of October 1954 with 3.96” proved wetter.
The recent wet weather is only an extension of an unusally wet pattern which has gripped the area since August began. The 15.34” on the books is twice normal for the period.
A huge and currently stalled West Coast storm may impact the Midwest with significant rain late Tuesday and Wednesday.
But changes could be ahead. Six of nine years with similarly wet Aug. 1-Oct. 5 periods have turned drier than average in autumn’s final eight weeks.
-Tom Skilling