Dear Tom,
Has this been the coolest year in memory, or is that just my impression?
— Alex Vesselinovitch
Dear Alex,
It has been a cool year thus far, but memories and impressions can be deceiving.
Averaged from Jan. 1 through Oct. 17, this year’s temperature stood at 51.4 degrees, as registered officially at O’Hare International Airport. A computer sweep of the city’s official temperature data base (1871-2009) indicates that 2009 ranks as 26th coolest. That places this year among Chicago’s coolest 19 percent, but 25 years had lower average temperatures in the period from Jan.1 through Oct.17.
The chilliest year in the data base is 1875, with an average temperature of 47.0 degrees. Even when ranked among the 51 years of temperature data from O’Hare, 2009 is merely the 11th coolest.
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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 a.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
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