Dear Tom,
I was curious: How many days in the 138 years of records have had the same high and low for a given day.
–Cole Turgeon, Brookfield
Dear Cole,
Such days are rare, but they do occur.
A computer sweep of Chicago’s official temperature data base from Nov. 1, 1870, through Dec. 31, 2008–that’s 50,465 days–reveals only three days on which temperatures remained absolutely steady through the entire 24-hour day: March 13, 1878, when the city’s official thermometer registered a constant 44 degrees; March 24, 1891, with 32; and Feb. 6, 1942, with 35.
The range between the city’s maximum and minimum temperatures was only 1 degree on an additional 24 days, most recently six years ago on April 8, 2003, when the high and low temperatures were 32 and 31 degrees.
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