Tuesday's 67 degree high made it the coolest June 9 in 11 years, a reading more typical of early May and 11 degrees below normal.
Temperatures through the opening nine days of June are running 11.5 degrees below the same period a year ago, ranking June's opening among the 20 coolest here in 139 years of weather records. Myriad factors drive weather patterns, but it appears the persistence of wet weather through spring--it was the wettest spring on record at Midway Airport--on the heels of the wettest year on record in 2008 has produced a huge swath of wet soil across the Midwest. Wet soil inhibits warming by contributing to increased cloud cover and rain. Chicagoans have seen only 40 percent of the area's possible sunshine--well below the 68 percent considered normal.
Twisters and hail
Thunderstorms slammed sections of Kansas and Missouri producing seven twisters, more than 3 inches of rain and bombarding some locations with windshield-shattering hail. Sleeper, Mo., was hit with 2.75-inch diameter hail.
Temperatures through the opening nine days of June are running 11.5 degrees below the same period a year ago, ranking June's opening among the 20 coolest here in 139 years of weather records. Myriad factors drive weather patterns, but it appears the persistence of wet weather through spring--it was the wettest spring on record at Midway Airport--on the heels of the wettest year on record in 2008 has produced a huge swath of wet soil across the Midwest. Wet soil inhibits warming by contributing to increased cloud cover and rain. Chicagoans have seen only 40 percent of the area's possible sunshine--well below the 68 percent considered normal.
Twisters and hail
Thunderstorms slammed sections of Kansas and Missouri producing seven twisters, more than 3 inches of rain and bombarding some locations with windshield-shattering hail. Sleeper, Mo., was hit with 2.75-inch diameter hail.
