Dear Tom,
Please help settle a friendly office wager. On average, on how many days between March 1 and April 15 is the high temperature above 50(degrees)?
Dick Reilly, Libertyville
Dear Dick,
A computer scan of 130 years of Chicago daily high temperatures from 1873 through 2002 reveals that a reading of 50(degrees) or higher can be expected on 18 (or about 38 percent) of the days in the 46-day March 1-April 15 period. And in those 130 years, only one of them, 1881, failed to produce a 50(degrees) day.
The climatological assurance that several 50(degrees) days should occur by April 15 will come as uplifting news to bone-chilled Chicagoans, who are suffering through a cold winter that has featured near-zero temperatures even in March. Chicago’s official thermometer has not registered 50(degrees) this month–but prospects for that occurrence are only a few days away.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
