It's been dry in Chicago and in many parts of the Midwest the last several weeks with
much of the Chicago area receiving less than half an inch of rain, making this the driest
Aug. 5-Sept. 2 period since 1933 during the "Dust Bowl."
All that may be about to change: There are growing indications that moisture from the
remnants of Gustav may interact with an approaching cold front to bring an extended
period of rainfall to the area.
Before the rain arrives later in the week, Chicago is in store for another sunny and very
warm day Tuesday. Monday marked the city's fifth official 90-degree high in a
heat-starved summer. It was the warmest Labor Day here since the thermometer hit 95
degrees on Sept. 5, 1983.
STORM BRINGS 117 M.P.H. GUSTS AND 14-INCH RAINS TO LOUISIANA
Gustav spared New Orleans a direct hit, but battered portions of southern Louisiana
with wind gusts as high as 117 m.p.h. and torrential rains that approached 15 inches at
Grand Isle. More than 1 million people were without power Monday evening with the
landscape littered with fallen trees. Gustav spawned at least 17 twisters from the
Florida Panhandle to Louisiana as it made a Labor Day landfall.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist
