Dear Tom,
I remember a Memorial Day in the 1980s that was so cold and rainy we actually built a fire in our fireplace. What year was that?
Bob Walsh
Dear Bob,
That awful Memorial Day occurred 22 year ago on May 28, 1984. Chicagoans shivered through the holiday on a day where the high reached only 51+, the low was 40+ and exactly one inch of wind-driven rain soaked the city cancelling picnics and drenching parades. A low pressure system moving across southern Illinois, in conjunction with a large area of high pressure draped across Lake Superior, funneled the chilly, damp air into the city with 20 to 30 m.p.h. steady northeast winds that gusted to more than 40 m.p.h. at times. Rain fell continuously that Monday from midnight until shortly after 9 p.m. Only two Memorial Days here have been colder, both of them before 1900–1889 (42-) and 1894 (46-).
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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.
