First 90° since last August; earliest in 13 years

Sun bathers were out in force on Chicago beaches Monday as temperatures soared to 2007’s highest level yet. Powerful SW winds, which gusted to 37 m.p.h., delivered the city’s earliest 90° temperature in 13 years—since 1994. On only 17 occasions since weather records began at Midway Airport in 1928 has a 90° temp arrived any earlier. The 90° high at O’Hare was the city’s first official 90° high since a 97° reading 9+ months ago on Aug. 2. Highs of 90° were also recorded at Midway Airport and Northerly Island on Chicago’s lakefront. There, southwest winds blasted across the lakeshore and out over Lake Michigan, extinguishing the chilly 50s which had hugged the lakeshore all weekend thanks to northeast winds off relatively cold lake waters. While the 90° reading at O’Hare fell just 2° shy of a 1982 record, the 92° at Rockford eclipsed the city’s 75-year previous record for the date of 91°. --By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist