Dear Tom,
What does a cool October say about the following November? Here’s hoping your crystal ball can offer some good news.
— Doug Geist
Dear Doug,
Indeed it can. A review of Chicago’s temperature data for October and November indicates that far below-normal temperatures in the period from Oct. 1 to Oct. 19 (such as we have experienced this year) do not carry into November.
This year, October’s temperatures (through Oct. 19) averaged 46.9 degrees — 8.0 degrees below normal — and that is the chilliest Oct. 1 to Oct. 19 period in the 51 years of temperature data at O’Hare International Airport.
We looked at November temperatures following 10 comparably chilly Oct. 1 to Oct. 19 periods. The good news is that temperatures in nine of those 10 Novembers were at or above normal.
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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.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
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