Dear Tom,
Growing up in Chicago in the 1950s, I remember going back to school in sweltering heat. Am I correct?
Barb Rosen
Dear Barb,
Your memories are correct. The 1950s brought Chicago some of its hottest September weather on record. Half a century later that decade still hosts 40% of September’s thirty daily high temperature records. There were many afternoons when temps soared into the middle and upper 90s and even a few days when the mercury cracked the 100 (degrees) mark. Leading the decade was 1959 with eight 90 (degrees)+ days, followed by 1953 with seven, and 1952 and 1955 with six. Older generations may recall a searing heat wave in September, 1939 that sported consecutive highs of 94 (degrees), 98 (degrees), 99 (degrees) and 99 (degrees)from Sept. 12-15. That hot spell followed three other 90 (degrees)+ days earlier in the month, including a 100 (degrees) maximum on Sept. 7.
———-
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.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
