It won’t be as cold as Saturday’s record-tying 32º low maximum but if Easter’s forecast high of 38º verifies, Chicago will record its coldest Easter since the 33º high on March 26, 1978. Temperatures will rebound a bit Monday, but it should still be a very chilly Cubs home opener with highs only reaching the lower 40s.
Chicago’s chill will linger through much of the upcoming week as an approaching storm system takes aim on the Midwest. The storm will likely bring a significant late-season snowfall to areas to our north and west and current computer forecasts of the rain/snow dividing line place it perilously close to the city.
Chicago is not alone in the April cold snap. Record lows and record low maximums tumbled Saturday across the South and Southeast and frost/freeze advisories are posted all the way from Texas to north Florida threatening disaster for crops well advanced by last week’s 80º+ weather.
--By Steve Kahn, 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.
