Warmer days on way, but not West Coast's heat
A dome of incredibly hot early season air scalded California on Thursday. The heat,
which produced readings 25 to 30 degrees above normal at many locations, smashed
records from California to Oregon. Perennially mild Seattle is predicted to turn
downright steamy Friday with highs surging into record territory, topping out near 90
degrees. It's looking increasingly likely the air mass could bring Chicago and the
nation’s Heartland it's first surge of summer-level warmth later next week.
Temperatures Thursday soared to a record-breaking 99 degrees at Oakland and
Sacramento, 103 degrees at Redding and 104 degrees at Red Bluff. The heat,
expected to blaze into the weekend there, will send the risk of wildfires soaring.
In Chicago, lakeshore residents shivered in Thursday's east winds. Temperatures at
the University of Chicago only reached 49 degrees and O’Hare's 57 degrees was 13
degrees below normal and far below the 80 degrees on the date a year ago.
MORE HEAVY RAIN DOWNSTATE
Downstate farmers, anxious to get into their fields and far behind in planting this
year's crops, were dealt another blow by heavy rain Thursday which reached 1.75
inches at Christopher—just northeast of Carbondale.