Dear Tom,
I remember Valentine’s Day 1990 for the snowstorm, but wasn’t it near 70 a couple of days before the big storm?
Ken Gorelik
Dear Ken,
It was mild before that paralyzing Valentine’s Day snowstorm, but not quite as warm as you remember. In the two days preceding the snow, readings climbed into the middle 50s across the Chicago area with official highs of 54(degrees) on both days. However, colder air swept in late on February 13 setting the stage for a major winter storm that brought the city up to 10 inches of snow, blown into huge drifts by howling northeast winds gusting as high as 40 m.p.h. The snow began around noon on Valentine’s Day and continued well into the next morning. During the height of the storm during the late afternoon and evening hours of Feb. 14 city traffic was at a standstill, unable to navigate the snowclogged streets.
———-
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.
