Dear Tom,
With all the early frigid temperatures this year, I was wondering if December was ever the coldest month in any winter season here.
Nick Recchia, River Grove , Ill.
Dear Nick,
On average, January is Chicago’s coldest month (average temperature, 22.0(degrees)), February is second coldest (27.0(degrees)), December third coldest (27.4(degrees)) and March fourth (37.3(degrees)).
But climatological temperature averages don’t always tell the real story, especially in a climate like Chicago’s, characterized as it is by frequent large departures of temperatures from “normal.”
And so it is with December. January and February are usually Chicago’s coldest months, but in 22 of the past 135 winter seasons (1870/71 through 2004/ 05) –or in one winter season out of six, December has been the city’s coldest month of the winter.
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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.
