The temperature turnaround since December’s opening week has been remarkable. The metro area is in the midst of its mildest mid-December period in the 67 years since 1939—a major change from the chill which gripped the area in this month’s opening 8 days. That open was the 6th coldest for a December here since 1870. The 40.0° average temperature over the past week and a half is running 11.8° above the 136 year average. Only five December 10-20 periods have been milder. The period is running more than 20° warmer than the same period a year ago.
A mammoth snowstorm is underway Wednesday in the Plains. It’s a system which threatens to bury Denver beneath more than two feet of snow while producing a travel-crippling blizzard and whiteout conditions into the western Plains, including sections of Nebraska and Kansas. 12 states are under advisories.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
