Dear Tom,
In response to a question regarding the longest continuous period of hot weather in Chicago, you cited a stretch of five days in 1916. I would like to suggest the whole month of July in 1955 as a worse frying. I remember the time as exhausting and dispiriting.
Herbert J. Curtis, Wilmette, Ill.
Dear Herbert,
Your memory serves you well because, with an average temperature of 80.3(degrees), July of 1955 is the warmest month in Chicago’s weather history.
The heat that month was brutal: High temperatures climbed to 90(degrees) or higher on 19 days, also a record for any month.
However, the five-day period cited as Chicago’s longest continuous period of hot weather –July 25-29, 1916–was considerably warmer.
The average temperature for that period was 89.9(degrees), or 9.6(degrees) higher than July, 1955. It’s an unfair comparison, though, because five days are ranked against 31.
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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.
