Year’s longest warm spell yet; most May 80s in 2 decades

It was more like July than May Tuesday as temperatures flirted with 90°, making it 2007’s second warmest day. Afternoon highs peaked at levels 15° above normal, including an 89° high at Rockford and 88° highs at Midway Airport, Aurora, Kankakee, Lansing and Joliet. The warmth even managed to overpower cool air near Lake Michigan, making it all the way to Chicago’s lakefront. Northerly Island hit 86°. North lakeshore communities like Waukegan and Kenosha were the only ones denied the full impact of Tuesday’s warmth thanks to cool breezes off Lake Michigan.
With 12 highs of 80° or higher on the books in 2007, this year ranks among the city’s most prolific 80° producers so early in the season. Only nine of the past 37 years have had as many or more. This month’s tally of ten 80s—including Wednesday’s predicted 89° high—is the most for the May 1-23 period in two decades.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist