Dear Tom,
Can you provide proof that it snowed in the Chicago area on the 4th of July in the early 1970s? I remember watching fireworks at Deerfield High School, and it snowed. My mom remembers it too.
— Cheryl Fayne
Dear Cheryl,
The proof that you are looking for does not exist because snow, even a few flakes, has never been observed in the Chicago area on July 4 or on any day in July or August.
That fact is borne out by unofficial weather records assembled from several observation sites in northeast Illinois from 1830 to 1870 and from Chicago’s official weather data from 1871 to the present, a period of 178 years of absolutely snow-free Julys and Augusts.
July 4, 1972, was downright chilly (high/low temperatures of 66/49 degrees), but it was dry. There was no precipitation at all. Sometimes, our memories play tricks on us.
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