Tuesday's 60s threaten a 133-year-old record

A day of record-breaking warmth -- potentially 2009's mildest to date -- sweeps into
the area Tuesday, the product of powerful winds and generous sunshine. Wind trajectories,
which allow the tracking of air mass movement produced by winds, indicate the May-level
60s predicted here had origins not more than 24 hour ago in Louisiana, Arkansas and
Missouri. Record highs Monday -- including 66 degrees Downstate in Springfield, 72 at Paducah
and 70 at Louisville -- occurred within this air mass. Not since a 71-degree high here
three months ago, on Nov. 5, has the Chicago area been treated to warmer temperatures.
There had been two days of 60s by Feb. 10 a year ago, but temperatures of 60 degrees or
warmer this early in the season have occurred in only one of four years since local
weather records began in 1871.
The same storm producing Tuesday's warm winds has coated the Upper Midwest and Plains
with ice and snow. A second storm, responsible for a rare tornado near near Atwater,
Calif., on Monday and for big snows in the mountains of the West -- including 20 inches at
Alpine Meadow Ski resort in California -- next targets the Mid- west late Tuesday night and
Wednesday.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune