10th coldest January closes with a month's high of 38 degrees

January 2009 enters the record books as the city's 10th coldest. Its average temperature
of 15.9 degrees ties 1994 as Chicago's coldest January in 16 years. Saturday's high of
38 degrees was the month's peak reading, making it the first January since 1985 and only
the ninth since 1871 with so low a maximum temperature.
Thawing will continue Sunday, but colder air will return to the region Monday and
Tuesday on strong north winds, the western flank of a large storm system expected to charge up
the East Coast. That storm is expected to bring heavy snow to portions of the Northeast,
but the Chicago area could be the recipient of several inches of lake-effect snow as the
cold air sweeps south down the full length of Lake Michigan.
MAJOR THAW EXPECTED BY WEEK'S END
Milder weather appears headed for Chicago by the end of the week as a westerly flow of
Pacific air approaches. By Saturday highs could surge into the 40s here for the first time
since Dec. 30, bringing a chance of rain to the city.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist