The coldest air to grip the Chicago area in more 9 months moves into a second day Friday. The average date on which Chicago's first official single-digit temperature has occurred over the past 138 years has been Dec. 14. Yet many suburban residents will step out into single-digit temps a second consecutive morning Friday, having experienced lows of 4 degrees in De Kalb, 5 degrees in Aurora and 6 degrees in South Elgin on Thursday. Despite sunshine, snow cover -- heaviest to the west -- will restrict warming Friday. Highs will be close to Thursday's peak reading of 22 degrees -- a January-level temperature which was 16 degrees below normal and the coldest daytime reading here since Feb. 20.
The chill comes at the end of a Nov. 8 through Dec. 4 period which has averaged 33.0 degrees -- this area's coldest in 12 years and a reading 4.8 degrees below the 138-year average.
ONLY FIVE SNOWIER STARTS IN PAST 25 YEARS IN CHICAGO
The 4.3 inches of snow on the books as Chicago's official seasonal tally has been topped only five times in the past 25 years. Weather history tells us 90 percent of the city's seasonal snow has yet to fall.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
