Dear Tom,
My mother told me temperatures were in the 60s just before the 1967 “Big Snow” started. Is she right?
–Roger Hitchcock
Dear Roger,
Your mother is correct. Chicago’s biggest snow- storm occurred Jan. 26-27, 1967. The mercury soared to a balmy record-breaking 65 degrees on Jan. 24, a day when strong thunderstorms raked the city. Wind gusts to nearly 50 m.p.h. knocked down a wall of a building under construction. The temperature reached 54 Jan. 25, but then cold air swept in and the historic snow- storm began during the early morning hours of Jan. 26.
Snowfall totaled 16.4 inches on Jan. 26 and another 6.6 inches on Jan. 27, bringing the storm total to 23.0 inches, the city’s record snowfall. Strong northeast winds gusting in excess of 50 m.p.h. piled the snow into huge drifts, shutting the city down for days.
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Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or: asktomwhy@wgntv.com
Weather Report is prepared by the WGN-TV Weather Center, where Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at 11:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
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