Chicago near record pace for 90-degree days, with 12 so far
By MATT McKINNEY Staff Reporter/mmckinney@suntimes.com June 19, 2012 11:18AM
Chicago in another mid-90 degree day and for these South Side youths, Omarion Brown, Isiha Brown and Tyree Hall (right) with out a pool, it is 'back yard pond' in the 5000 block of S. Hoyne, Tuesday, June 20, 2012 . | John H. White~Sun-Times.
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Updated: July 21, 2012 6:17AM
We’re feeling the heat — and it’s approaching record highs. It reached 95 Tuesday at O’Hare Airport — the 12th day of 2012 that reached into the 90s, according to the National Weather Service. Since the National Weather Service started keeping temperature records in 1871, only one year has seen more 90-degree days by June 19. That was 1977, when there were 13 days in the 90s by this time.
“The biggest difference this summer is that it’s hotter a little earlier than I remember,” said Nathan Lurz, 21, who said he was trying to avoid being outdoors for too long.
The year with the most 90-degrees-or hotter days in Chicago was 1988, when 47 days topped the level. But that was only the city’s 10th-warmest summer.
Chicago’s hottest summer on record was 1954, when the average of each day’s highs and lows was 77.4 degrees, according to the weather service. That year, 33 days hit at least 90 degrees — but there wasn’t a single 100-degree day.
Temperatures are expected to hit the mid-90s again Wednesday before cooling down a bit — to the lows 80s — Thursday.
