Thursday’s 17° high—the second such reading in just the past week and a reading 20 degrees below normal—would have been right at home in January, our coldest month. Since 1870, only 37 highs of 17° or lower have occurred so early in the season—on or before Dec. 7—in Chicago. That there has been not one—but two days this cold—puts the current cold weather anomaly in a league all its own. Only 11 years since 1870 have managed two 17° daytime highs by this point in a cold season here.
Subfreezing temps literally touched each of the Lower 48 states Thursday. Only sections of 8 states were free of readings below 32°. The chill spilled south to north Florida and the Gulf Coast overnight where a hard freeze was predicted.
December’s first 7 days have averaged just 19°—nearly 14 degrees below normal. That makes this the sixth coldest such period on the books. But, cold as it’s been this Dec. 1-7, the same period a year ago was 2.4 degrees colder!
--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.
