Dear Tom,
Could you tell me how many days we had rain here in Chicago this summer?
Kathy Schuller
Dear Kathy,
This year, measurable rain (0.01 inch or more) fell on 30 days at O’Hare International Airport during the meteorological summer period, June 1 – August 31. Rain fell on 16 days in June, seven days in July and seven days in August.
This summer’s 30 “wet” days nearly equalled the climatological expectation for days with rain during the summer. Based on 129 years (1871-1999) of Chicago precipitation records, the city can expect rain on 29 (or 32%) of the 92 days during June, July and August. However, Chicagoans know well that the city’s weather often departs strongly from the climatological averages. In the summer of 1882, for example, measurable rain fell on 43 days (the most wet days ever in a summer), whereas it rained on only 16 days in the summer of 1894 (the least number on record). One surprising fact: This summer’s total rainfall, 10.16 inches, almost exactly equalled the 10.09 inches that fell here in the summer of 1871, just before the Great Fire of October 8-9, 1871.
———-
Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His weather forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at noon and 9 p.m.
Send your questions to:
ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Place, Chicago, IL 60618
e-mail: asktomwhy@tribune.com
