Chicago gets its coolest weather in nearly 3 weeks
Chicagoans haven't experienced daytime temperatures cooler than Tuesday's
77-degree high at O'Hare since July 4. These readings fall 7 or more degrees short of
84 degrees, a level considered normal this time of year, and come only two days ahead
of the 74th anniversary of the city's hottest official temperature on record: 105 degrees
on July 24, 1934.
The 2008 warm season has been noteworthy for its lack of extreme or extended heat.
While the city's 39 days of highs of 80 degrees or higher to date are close the
long-term (80 year) average of 43 at Midway Airport, the 2008 warm season has
produced only three days at or above 90 degrees at the official thermometers at O'Hare
and five days at Midway, well short of the 13 days which have occurred by July 23 on
average since 1928. Northeast winds continue off Lake Michigan on Wednesday
promising another day of very moderate summer temperatures.
DOLLY THE FIRST HURRICANE OF 2008 TO LAND ON U.S. TURF
Dolly, a minimal hurricane, crashes into the south Texas coast Wednesday. The 2008
hurricane season is really humming in the Atlantic Basin. Normally the fourth named
storm of the season occurs around Aug. 26 -- making Dolly more than a month early.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune