In any given winter, the coldest month of the season is invariably either December, January or February, and a computer sweep of the 136 Chicago winters (1870-71 through 2005-06) confirms it.
Most often, January is the season’s coldest month (it was the coldest month in 72 winters out of 136, or 53 percent of them); February comes in second (39 winters, or 29 percent) and December ranks third (23 winters, or 17 percent).
But that’s not the whole story. Surprisingly, March—which we consider to be a spring month—was the “winter’s” coldest month during the cold seasons of 1889-90 and 1931-32.
It certainly won’t happen again this year (February was so cold), but it is worth noting that Chicago’s winters don’t always play by the rules.
Jumping to the present, this March has another surprise in store: Temperatures surge into the 60s early this week, then crash into the teens later in the week.
--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.
