Dear Tom,
I enjoy how you indicate the cities with the highest and lowest temperatures of the day. Has Chicago ever been host to either extreme?
— Laurence K. Marks
Dear Laurence,
The National Weather Service releases the daily list of the nation’s highest and lowest temperatures, but Chicago has never appeared there. Many would say that’s fortunate because, more often than not, those temperatures are uncomfortably hot or cold.
On the very rare occasions when Chicago’s temperatures are either so hot or so cold that they might qualify for the national extremes on any given day, some other Midwestern city invariably registers a more extreme value.
One relevant fact: The daily tabulation of the nation’s highest and lowest temperatures is limited to the 48 contiguous states; Alaska and Hawaii are excluded.
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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.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
Weather updates: Search for forecasts by ZIP code and radar images at chicagotribune.com/weather or wgntv.com
