Tuesday's snow adds another benchmark

Snow fell measurably a 29th day Tuesday. It didn't amount to much at Midway and O'Hare
-- the snowfall was a lake-effect event, which meant the heaviest accumulations occurred
in lakeside areas of Cook County south into portions of Will County and east into the
Indiana lake-snow belt. The area near Porter, Ind., was socked with 9.3 inches of the fluffy
lake snow while 8 inches fell at Whiting.
The comparatively paltry 0.1 inch totals reported at the city's airports were enough to
establish one more onerous winter benchmark: becoming the first season since snow
observations began in 1884-85 with as many days of measurable snow on the books (29) through
Jan. 20. The seasonal snow tally at O'Hare is now 41.6 inches, dwarfing last season's
19.6-inch tally by 22 inches!
It's not cold everywhere. The 64-degree high Tuesday at Rapid City, S.D., set a record
there, while it was 67 degrees in Denver and 80 degrees in Phoenix.
THURSDAY'S MILD SURGE LIKELY THE WARMEST IN MORE THAN 2 WEEKS
If not for the area's extensive snowpack, Thursday's highs would surge into the low 50s
-- but the mid-30 to 40-degree readings predicted will be the warmest since Jan. 4.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune