Think Wednesday's 93 degrees is hot? It was 99 degrees a year ago
Heat has expanded its grip on U.S. weather and is still spreading as August 2007 gets underway Wednesday. Chicago’s 91° Tuesday, the hottest here in three weeks and the 11th time highs have reached or exceeded 90° this year at O’Hare, was but one of myriad 90°+ temperatures scattered across 42 of the Lower 48 states. Highs of 105° at Miles City, Montana and 103° at Williston, North Dakota, established new records at each site. Bismarck, North Dakota’s 102° just missed a record.
Wednesday marks the fifth day Chicago’s temperatures have increased. Peak readings surged from 80° Saturday to 85° Sunday, 89° Monday and 91° Tuesday. Hot as Wednesday’s predicted 93° high is, it lags behind the 99° on this date a year ago. With the three-month meteorological summer period now 2/3’s over, the season ranks 12th warmest since O’Hare Airport observations began in 1959.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist