We’re coming off a 4-day run of hot, humid weather. MOTHER NATURE IS TURNING ON THE ATMOSPHERIC AIR CONDITIONER.
Temps Wed afternoon were 10-15-deg lower than 24 hours ago—and when combined with the humidity in the air, the air “felt” 10 to 20-deg cooler Wed than amid Tuesday’s 94-deg high and its near 70-deg dew points..
And this is just the beginning of the cooling cycle. Cooler temps lie ahead—in fact daytime high temps will settle close to 5-deg below normal .
Highs which hit 94 at O’Hare Tuesday are likely to come in around 83 before we come off the period of peak heating at the site Wednesday and they’ll fall further to highs of 72-deg Thursday. That’s a 22-deg pull back in just 2 days.
The 2 day cooldown is the the equivalent from moving from the hottest days of July to the “normal” temps in late Sept (the “normal high Sept 24-26 is 72-deg). It will be as if we moved 2 months forward in time—from July to late September—without having to leave Chicago.
There’s a degree of instability in the air the next two days—so clouds will be in the air breaking to allow spells of mixed sun at times. And a well developing north/northwest to north/northeasterly wind flow
T-storms raked the area this hitting southern sections of the Chicago area hardest. Nearly 4″ of rain fell in parts of Joliet with a number of locations with 2″+ rains south of the city—including the following:
3.51″ 0.7WNW Joliet
3.21″ 4.9W Monee
2.99″ 0.7WNW Park Forest
2.98″ 3.3E New Lenox
2.93″ 0.3WNW Lockport
2.90″ 0.7NNE Homer Glen
2.90″ 0.4ENE Peotone
2.81″ 1.3W Mokena
2.64″ 1.9SE Manhattan
2.48″ 1.3ESE Frankfort
2.43″ 0.6S Aroma Park
2.18″ 1.2ESE Flossmoor
2.16″ 3.9SSW Plainfield2.11″ 1.2WNW Tinley Park
At the same time thundery downpours drenched these area, other parts of the Chicago area—in typical warm weather precip fashion—saw FAR LESS RAIN. In the city of Chicago, as an example, O’Hare tallied only 0.07″ while Midwest recorded 0.35″. After 19 consecutive rainless days, even these comparatively modest city amounts were welcome.
BELOW NORMAL TEMPS are predicted through next Friday—then some warming will commence bringing temps back ABOVE NORMAL—though NOT at the levels we saw over the Labor Day holiday weekend.
So are we done with 90s? Probably—but let me remind you that we’ve seen 90-deg temps as late as October 4. It occurred back in 1950. We are DEFINITELY not done with warm weather. In fact, temps are headed back into the 80s if current model trends verify—not THIS WEEKEND—but NEXT WEEKEND.
Temps this weekend here in Chicago are to average close to 65-deg compared to 79-deg as an average last weekend. That means the coming weekend is to come in 14-deg cooler than last weekend—and THAT’S QUITE A CHANGE.
HERE’S MY LATEST WEDNESDAY CHICAGO METRO FORECAST (9/6/2023)
BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT FOR HIGH WAVES AND POSSIBLE RIP CURRENTS from 1am Thursday morning through Thursday evening—Waves approaching 6 ft. are to develop.
TONIGHT: Cloudy spells, breezy and cooler. A few isolated evening showers possible—even the chance of isolated thunder. Then a 20% chance of spotty showers or sprinkles in a few locations later tonight. Low 61.
THURSDAY: Cloudy at times—breezy and cooler. Temps at late Sept levels. Mixed sun through cloud breaks at times. High 72.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy, steady 7 to 17 mph NNW winds and cool. Low 59 in the city—low 50s cooler inland locations.
FRIDAY: A good deal of cloudiness with with mixed sun through cloud breaks. Breezy and cool for the season. High 69.
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny, a bit cool—but with comfortable humidities. High 71—60s beaches.
SUNDAY: Partly sunny. Comparable temps. High 72—60s beaches.
MONDAY and TUESDAY: Becoming cloudy, breezy still a bit cool. Growing prospects for some showers developing. High Monday 71—60s lakeshore. Tuesday’s high: 69.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny, cool. High 68.
