Dear Tom,
My mother says that she remembers a Mother’s Day when it snowed in Chicago? Is she right?
–Kimberly Raven
Dear Kimberly,
While we’d like every Mother’s Day to be sunny and warm, the weather doesn’t always cooperate. Your mother is indeed right if she is remembering Mother’s Day, May 9, 1954, a chilly rainy day that officially registered a trace of snow at Midway Airport during the early morning hours. The morning low at Midway was 36 degrees, but many inland suburban areas were even colder, dropping to near freezing. The afternoon was only slightly better with highs in the lower and middle 50s. The extreme variability of Chicago’s spring weather was highlighted two years later on Mother’s Day, May 13, 1956, when the city basked in summery 89 degree heat, making it Chicago’s warmest Mother’s Day on record.
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Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or: asktomwhy@wgntv.com
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