Just three days after Thursday morning’s 0º low, Chicago area temperatures are threatening to break Sunday’s century-old 54º record high established in 1907. The stunning 50º+ temperature rise is rapidly devouring the area’s snow pack, releasing more than half an inch of meltwater into area soils. Coupled with the potential for copious rainfall from an approaching storm, area rivers, streams and creeks may experience rapid rises.
The storm promises to be a potent offshoot of the major system that crippled portions of the West with 100 m.p.h + winds, up to 6 feet of mountain snow and mudslide triggering deluges.
Being January, the abnormal warmth will, of course, be fleeting, with colder weather and some snow showers set to return to the Chicago area and the Midwest later in the week.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
