It hasn't been this muggy in Chicago in 17 days. Friday's southerly winds deliver air
dripping with nearly 2 inches of evaporated moisture with origins over the mid- and
upper-80 degree waters of the Gulf of Mexico. August hasn't lived up to its
climatological history as the city's wettest and second most humid month. The last
measurable rain fell a week ago -- but the last downpour-generating storms hit nearly
three weeks ago, on Aug. 4. The last 17 days have hosted only 0.06 inches of rain. The
northward rush of humid air Thursday led to eruption of scattered though impressive
thunderstorms to Chicago's south and west. Late-day Doppler radar scanned cloud
tops as high as 41,000 feet and estimated rainfall in harder hit locations just 90 miles
southwest of Chicago at 1.50 inches.
FAY'S HISTORIC RAINS NOT HISTORY YET; DELUGE SHIFTING WEST AND NORTH, AND MOVING SLOWLY
Sections of central Florida were reeling from a second day of downpours from stalled
Tropical Storm Fay. Just shy of 30 inches of rain fell in the Melbourne area. Cape
Canaveral recorded nearly 9 inches Thursday. The storm's impact is far from over. The
slow west/northwest drift threatens to spread torrential rains north into southern
Georgia and Alabama.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
