Temperatures surged into the 70s over much of the metro area Tuesday. The warm-up ended the 13 consecutive days of temperature deficits responsible for this April’s ranking as the chilliest in 28 years. Readings hit 70° at O’Hare and 72° at Midway—but it was the 75° high at Romeoville, Gary and Kankakee which topped Tuesday’s charts. Almost cruelly, the flirtation with spring didn’t last long. A back door cold front, draped across the Lake Michigan shoreline through the morning, began rushing inland as daytime heating reduced air pressures encouraging chilly, dense lake air to rush inland. Initially light winds turned into temperature crashing 30 m.p.h. gusts once the front began to move and the area’s sixth day this year above 70° was soon history. O’Hare’s temp dropped from 70° at 1 p.m. Tuesday to 52° only an hour later. But, the largest pullback occurred at Gary where temps plunged 27° from 75° at 2 p.m. to 48° by 7 p.m.
--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.
