Wednesday marked the seventh time this month temperatures here have surged to 84° or higher. The 84° high at both Midway and O’Hare and the 87° reading at Northerly Island were 29° warmer than the chilly 55° high a year ago. It was so cool in September a year ago, the month’s warmest reading never even reached Wednesday’s levels, peaking just once at 83° on Sept. 8 and reaching or exceeding 80° in 2006 only four times all month! By contrast, there have been eleven 80°+ days this September.
Easterly winds off Lake Michigan lower temperatures Thursday—but only modestly. Strong southerly winds send readings back to the upper 80s Friday.
North Floridians dealt with high winds and waves of heavy rain a third day Wednesday. Rainfall at Daytona Beach had reached 4.21” by late evening—a new record—while Jacksonville Beach’s rain tally since Monday soared to 10.31”.
--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.
