Dear Tom,
I remember moving into my home on the Southwest Side of Chicago on Nov. 15, 1968, with the geraniums in full bloom. Was it warm that fall?
Marie H., Chicago
Dear Marie,
A check of that fall’s weather by climatologist Frank Wachowski explains why your geraniums were in full bloom. Much like this year, temperatures in the fall of 1968 were quite warm. October featured an exceptionally warm period during the middle of the month with six consecutive days of highs of 76(degrees) or higher (Oct. 12-17), including four straight days (Oct. 13-16) where readings reached the 80s.
November 1968 opened on a spectacular note with a high of 74(degrees) on the 1st, but temperatures then took a downturn with about a two-week stretch of more seasonable readings in the 40s and 50s. The season’s first official freeze did not occur until Nov. 8, a blustery day that also brought the first snow flurries of the fall.
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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.
