The final weekend of summer arrives with radically different weather than last weekend
-- though wet soils and a bit of instability may be just enough to prod isolated
thunderstorm development in a few spots Sunday afternoon. Temps are to warm above
last weekend's highs (75 degrees Saturday and 72 degrees Sunday) but without the
huge 8.45-inch rain tally at O'Hare or the 13.06 inches at Crown Point, Ind. -- the
region's heaviest reported.
Friday's high temperature hits 80 degrees for only the fourth time this month and
readings are likely to flirt with 80 degrees again on Saturday. The warmth is welcome in
a month running 2 degrees cooler than a year ago.
Signs of autumn, which arrives officially at 10.44 a.m. Monday, are becoming more
numerous. Fall colors are out and expanding in coverage across the Upper Midwest.
SEPTEMBER'S HEFTY RAINS SLASH SUN 23% FROM YEAR AGO
Though on hold this past week, the month's exorbitant rainfall has slashed Chicago's
September sunshine tally 23% over the same period a year ago. Veteran weather
observer Frank Wachowski reports just 53% of the month's possible sun has occurred
-- well below the normal of 63%.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
