Dear Tom,
I remember a January in the early 1960s with many days of below zero weather. What year was that?
Jim Busulovich
Dear Jim,
Without a doubt you are remembering January of 1963, Chicago’s sixth coldest January on record with an average temperature of 13.3(degrees). The month started out typically cold, but an arctic air mass arrived on Jan. 12 and took up residence here for the rest of the month. Fifteen of the 20 days from Jan. 12-31 recorded below-zero temperatures including lows of -15(degrees) on Jan. 21 and -18(degrees) on Jan. 23. The five days that did not drop below zero had single-digit lows. It was also cold during the day with highs failing to reach double digits on six of the 20 days, including Jan. 23 when the maximum reached only -4(degrees). For comparison’s sake, the city’s coldest January was in 1977 when the monthly temperature averaged only 10.1(degrees).
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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.
