Dear Tom,
How cold does it have to get for mosquitoes to die? Is it 32(degrees) or dare I dream a bit warmer than that?
Cindy Trent, Rolling Meadows High School
Dear Cindy,
We posed your question to Mike Szyska, Director of the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District in Wheeling. He noted that recent heavy rains across the Chicago metro area have resulted in the emergence of millions of the aggressive-biting “Nuisance Floodwater Mosquito”. Even though the recent cool weather will slow down the activity of the cold-blooded mosquitoes, Szyska said we will not be rid of them until after the first hard frosts/freezes that usually occur here in mid or late October. He cautioned that the cold weather will not kill the “Culex mosquito,” a different species that can carry the West Nile virus. That type of mosquito hibernates over the winter and will re-emerge next spring.
———-
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.
