January 2006: City’s warmest since 1928
Mild weather’s had an amazing run over the past five weeks. It’s produced a January of near record warmth across the area and slashed home heating an estimated 28% over the same period a year ago. January’s average temperature of 36.6° at the city’s Midway Airport site ranks as the warmest there since weather observations first began 78-years ago and 1.4° above the previous warmest reading for the month: (35.2°) set in 1933. That reading places January, 2006 over 13° above the normal 23.5° reading and nearly 11° higher than a year ago. At O’Hare on the northwest side, Chicago’s official observation site, the past month has averaged 35.8°, enough to make it the third mildest January in 135 years of records.
January 2006 has left its mark in the precipitation arena as well. It’s 2.78” total is 59% above normal (1.75”) and enough to rank as the Chicago’s 29th wettest January on the books.