Dear Tom,
You mentioned that 1983 with 49.35″ was Chicago’s wettest year. When did most of the precipitation occur?
Raymond Dillard
Dear Raymond,
The bulk of Chicago’s precipitation that year fell during the spring and fall. April with 7.69″ followed by May with 6.26″ led the way, ranking as the year’s two wettest months. The September-November fall period was 8″ above normal, compiling a whopping 15.69″ total.
Overall, 1983 ended up more than 16″ above normal with only January and August recording precipitation deficits. There were no huge rainstorms during the year, but rather an abundance of 1″-plus rains. Oct. 22 with a 2.81″ total took the honors for the year’s wettest day, followed by Nov. 27 with 2.45″. Of course, not all of the precipitation fell as rain. Snowfall for the year totaled 41.6″, nearly 40 percent falling in December (16.5″).
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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.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
