Building heat wave could rewrite record book
Two consecutive 90º+ days are already on the books and four more are expected as the city braces for what may turn out to be its most intense heat wave in 11 years. After Friday’s official high of 93º and Saturday’s 94º, the heat is expected to kick up a notch Sunday through Tuesday, with afternoon highs forecast to peak around 100º. The intense heat will be coupled with tropical-level dew points in the 70s that will raise heat indexes to dangerous levels around 110º.
Chicago has not broken or tied a summer record high since the city’s deadly 1995 heat catastrophe, but that may change as some of the forecast high and low temperature values challenge existing records—some of them dating back more than 90 years.
Chicago is finally getting its share of the heat that’s been baking the Plains and West for weeks now. Many record highs were established Saturday, including 111º in Pierre and 108º in Mitchell, both in South Dakota.
--Steve Kahn WGN-TV Meteorologist