Dear Mr. Skilling,
I recall a rather cool and cloudy summer, like we are experiencing now, in 2001 or 2002. Can you confirm my recollection?
Mark J. Girolamo, Aurora
Dear Mark,
Memories can be deceiving. It's certainly true that this summer has been cool. As of July 26 (when you wrote to us), it was running 2.7 degrees below normal and it ranked 5th coolest out of 50 years of temperature data at O'Hare Airport. On average, 10 of the annual tally of O'Hare's 17 days at or above 90 degrees should already have occurred, but we had logged only three.
However, the summer of 2002 (through July 26) was hot: 2.6 degrees above normal, 7th hottest, 16 days in the 90s. In 2001, summer ran near normal: 0.4 degrees below normal, 28th warmest, 10 days in the 90s.
Might 2000 have been the cool summer that you recall? With an average temperature of 68.9 degrees and no 90-degree days, it ranked 9th coolest.
I recall a rather cool and cloudy summer, like we are experiencing now, in 2001 or 2002. Can you confirm my recollection?
Mark J. Girolamo, Aurora
Dear Mark,
Memories can be deceiving. It's certainly true that this summer has been cool. As of July 26 (when you wrote to us), it was running 2.7 degrees below normal and it ranked 5th coolest out of 50 years of temperature data at O'Hare Airport. On average, 10 of the annual tally of O'Hare's 17 days at or above 90 degrees should already have occurred, but we had logged only three.
However, the summer of 2002 (through July 26) was hot: 2.6 degrees above normal, 7th hottest, 16 days in the 90s. In 2001, summer ran near normal: 0.4 degrees below normal, 28th warmest, 10 days in the 90s.
Might 2000 have been the cool summer that you recall? With an average temperature of 68.9 degrees and no 90-degree days, it ranked 9th coolest.
