As July winds down, the brutal heat responsible for a swarm of record high temperatures across the Pacific Northwest and triple-digit readings in many sections of the West and Southwest is showing no sign of making a move on Chicago. Temperatures here will remain comfortable, with readings near or a bit below typical mid- and late-summer levels. While July's average temperature in Chicago ranks 3rd coolest of the past 81 years--running nearly 4-degrees below normal--Rockford and South Bend and Ft. Wayne, Ind., are all on track to close the books on the coolest July on record. The breadth of the month's cooler-than-normal weather has been, and continues to be, remarkable, literally covering the entire Midwest. Some weather observation stations are reporting July temperature deficits approaching 8 degrees.
Wednesday's 81-degree high in Chicago marked only the 34th time this year the temperature has reached 80 degrees. Records reveal a typical year has logged 49 such days by now--44 percent more than this year's tally.
