Dear Tom,
What is Chicago’s lowest high temperature ever recorded in the month of August?
Rich Pokorski, Morton Grove
Dear Rich,
As cool as this August has been with four days recording highs in the 60s, including two consecutive record low 62 highs on Aug. 11 and 12, it has been chillier. On Aug. 30, 1915, Chicago’s high temperature peaked at 58, the only time in Chicago’s 133-year weather history (dating back to 1871) that an August day has not reached 60. August 1915 was a very chilly month, having only six days with highs in the 80s, 13 in the 70s, 11 in the 60s and that one historically cold day in the 50s.
This year, August is ending on a warmer note with three days in the last week of the month reaching the 80s, in sharp contrast to August 1915 when the highest temperature recorded in the last seven days of the month was only 72 on Aug. 24.
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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.
