St. Patrick’s Day is off to a cooler than usual start in Chicago. Normal March 17 highs reach 47°—but today’s readings are likely to end up nearly 10 degrees lower. Light NNE winds and more rapid than usual vertical temperature declines in the lowest mile of the atmosphere set the stage for possible lake-effect snow flurries.
However, any snowflakes here Saturday pale in comparison to the mammoth accumulations which have hit the East Coast. Going into this winter’s latest storm there, Boston had only recorded 6” of snow—just 17% of normal—while the seasonal tally in New York City as flakes began falling mid-morning Friday was 7”—only a third of normal. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa., where 60s occurred just days ago, was on its way to 12 continuous hours of heavy snowfall late Friday evening. Snowfalls could reach 30” in the hardest-hit areas of upstate New York.
In stark contrast was Phoenix, Ariz.’s record 99° Friday—its hottest reading so early in the year.
--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.
