If you are among the Chicagoans who suspect October’s unseasonable warmth has been unusual, new statistics back your assertion. While O’Hare’s 70.3° average temperature the opening eight days of October ranks third warmest since official records began here, Midway Airport’s 72.7° average is even more impressive. Not only does it illustrate the so-called urban heat island effect—the reading is 2.4° warmer over the same period than at O’Hare—it’s the South Side site’s warmest Oct. 1-8 since weather observations began there in 1928.
Monday’s 87° at O’Hare fell just 1° short of the day’s 1997 record. The warmth was part of an air mass which led to record breaking highs across sections of 17 states from Illinois to Washington, D.C. The 91° high at Indianapolis was the city’s warmest ever in October.
The National Weather Service-Chicago thanks the 1,200 visitors who turned out for Saturday’s Open House.
--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.
