Chicagoans were finally able Tuesday to bask in summer-level warmth which had come so tantalizingly close to the city only a day before. Temperatures broke above 80° for only the third time this year reaching 83°—a reading which tied the April 22 high for warmest of 2007. Only twice since 1970 has a May 1 been any warmer.
Midway Airport’s 84° high Tuesday was the warmest temperature in seven and a half months. Not since the 85° high last Sept. 17 has a warmer reading occurred there. The mercury sailed past 80° in the city proper just after 11 a.m. Tuesday and remained there for five hours. Not until gusty NE winds arrived in the late afternoon did temps begin plunging.
Nowhere was the dramatic temp pullback more noticeable than in Gary, Ind., where readings crashed 22° in one hour.
Winds blow easterly nearly 40% of the time in May and the next three days will be no exception.
-By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
