Chicago’s winters—even the mild ones—are long enough, cold enough and stormy enough that most of us are anxious for the arrival of spring by the time the calendar flips into March. In fact, meteorologists consider March to be the first month of spring.
And when we have endured a February as cold as the one just ended (with an average temperature of 17.9º at O’Hare Airport, it was the coldest since 1979 and the 11th coldest out of 137 on record), we’re even more anxious for the first hint of mild temperatures.
Our forecast data continues to tease us with the prospect of a significant warm-up later this week, and a 50° reading cannot be ruled out for Friday. But before that, we have to endure another round of light snow late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the product of a weak storm system that will sweep rapidly southeastward across the area.
--By Richard Koeneman, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
