Happy Spring. The equinox happened less than 11 hours ago, which usually means Chicago has another six weeks of cold and damp weather. Not this time. Trees have buds and flowers, insects have started buzzing around, and as of about an hour ago, we've broken (or tied) our seventh consecutive heat record. This, by the way, is also a record (greatest number of temperature records broken consecutively), breaking the record set...yesterday.
Here are the temperature records we've set so far this month:
| Date |
Old record |
New record |
| March 14 |
25.0°C, 1995 |
27.2°C |
| March 15 |
23.3°C, 1995 |
27.2°C |
| March 16 |
25.6°C, 1945 |
27.8°C |
| March 17 |
23.3°C, 1894, 2009 |
27.8°C |
| March 18 |
23.3°C, 1903, 1918, 1969 |
27.2°C |
| March 19 |
25.6°C, 1921 |
25.6°C (tie) |
| March 20 |
24.3°C, 1921 |
25.0°C as of 10:53am |
Today's forecast high would make it feel more like mid-June than mid-March.
Meanwhile, it's snowing in Arizona...
Update: O'Hare temperature is 28.9°C at 13:51.