Friday’s 62° may not be the last: 25 of past 78 years have had another

Friday’s 62° high at Midway was the city’s mildest temperature in 15 days and may not be the area’s last 60°-plus reading. Five other years since 1928 have hosted 60° or milder temperatures at the South Side observation site on Nov. 24. From this date forward, 60° warmth is—at minimum—on borrowed time. But at least two additional 60° highs appear within striking distance in the mild spell expected to hold here another five days. Sunday is the first—but strengthening southerly winds in advance of a powerful approaching autumn storm make Tuesday an especially strong candidate for a 60° reading—that one potentially the last of 2006.
Gulf moisture rides Saturday’s south winds into the area, contributing to cloud formation and mild temperatures expected to send this final weekend of meteorological autumn into the record books nearly 18 degrees above normal. As the air mass nears saturation this afternoon, several showers or isolated t-storms may form.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist