Dear Tom,
I recall a rather cool and cloudy summer, like we are experiencing now, in 2001 or 2002. Can you confirm my recollection?
–Mark J. Girolamo
Dear Mark,
Memories can be deceiving. This summer has been cool: As of July 26 (when you wrote to us), it was running 2.7 degrees below normal and ranked as the fifth coolest out of 50 years of temperature data at O’Hare International Airport. On average, 10 days at or above 90 degrees should already have occurred out of the annual tally of 17 such days at O’Hare, but we had logged only three. However, the summer of 2002 (through July 26) was hot: 2.6 degrees above normal, seventh hottest. In 2001, summer ran near normal: 0.4 degrees below normal, 28th warmest. Might 2000 have been the cool summer that you recall? With an average temperature of 68.9 degrees, it ranked ninth coolest. ———-
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