Not since 1995 have three consecutive days failed to produce a 40-degree high at
Midway Airport this early in the season. Highs at the Southwest Side site struggled
Saturday, Sunday and Monday to reach 39, 38 and 39 degrees at a time of the year when
low 50s are considered the norm. Monday no doubt had many Chicagoans reflecting on
the near-record 73-degree high only a week earlier.
Autumn 2008 -- well over two-thirds complete -- has produced temperatures near the
long-term average, but 2.6-degrees cooler than the same period a year ago.
PANHANDLE LOW BEHIND CHILLY RAINS DUE HERE LATE TUESDAY
Many Chicagoans' hearts skip a beat as Panhandle low-pressure systems approach.
Such a disturbance is behind the thickening cloud deck expected to produce afternoon
sprinkles and then steadier rain toward nightfall and well into Tuesday night. Six states
-- from Colorado to Iowa -- were under winter weather advisories for snow late
Monday. Imperial, Neb., had reported 7 inches of snow by nightfall.
Chicago escapes the frozen precipitation with this system though it is possible a few
ice pellets (sleet) may occur this afternoon.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
