Temperatures surged to July levels Friday, topping out at 84 degrees at O’Hare International Airport and 85 at Midway–but soaring as high as 88 degrees in northwest suburban Libertyville, 87 at Wheaton and 86 at Gary. More than six months has passed since an 80-degree temperature graced the area. Only one year in five produces warmth at Friday’s levels so early in the season. Last year, it took another five weeks–June 2–for an 84-degree temperature reading here.
A dramatic but temporary break in Saturday’s unseasonable warmth threatens to ignite the Chicago area’s first organized outbreak of severe weather. The same powerful temperature-slashing cold front that lopped more than 50 degrees off readings in the Plains on Friday is to sweep across Chicago with potentially thundery weather between 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday. The wind shift it produces is likely to send temperatures into a dive off the day’s low 80-degree highs–a decline which may reach 40 degrees by evening.
A last-minute reminder
The 2009 Fermilab/WGN-TV Tornado and Severe Weather Seminar will be held at noon and 6 p.m. Saturday at Fermilab’s Wilson Hall in Batavia. For details, visit the Weather Blog at wgntv.com/weather
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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.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
IN THE WEB EDITION: For updated weather news, forecasts by ZIP code and local radar images, go to chicagotribune.com/weather or wgntv.com
