Dear Tom,
It seems as though the weather in Chicago jumps from the 50s and 60s right into the 80s, skipping those lovely spring 70s. What high temperature range (40s, 50s, 60s, etc.) has been most prevalent in Chicago’s history, and what is the percentage breakdown for each range?
Henry Becker
Dear Henry,
There’s no accounting for individual temperature preferences–some like it hot, some like it cold–but the majority of people find daytime temperatures in the 70s to be agreeable.
A computer scan of 75 years (1929-2003) of daily high temperatures–that’s 27,393 days–as recorded at Midway Airport reveals that daily high temperatures in the 80s occur most frequently. The breakdown: 10s or lower, 2 percent of the days; 20s, 6 percent; 30s, 14 percent; 40s, 13 percent; 50s, 12 percent; 60s, 13 percent; 70s, 16 percent; 80s, 17 percent; 90s or higher, 7 percent.
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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.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
