Did I mention cold and wet? Yeah, it's wet all right:
Tuesday marked April 2013's 11th day of measurable rain. The day's 15.5 mm rain accumulation was enough to put this month's 215 mm tally (late Tuesday night, with rains still falling) into the record books as the wettest April to occur over Chicago's 143-year observational record.
The previous record for most April precipitation here—212 mm—was retired after a 66 year run dating back to 1947.
The new 215 mm monthly total is more than 9 times (939%) the amount of rain which had fallen during April's opening 23 days a year ago (23 mm) and 2.5 times the full month's 86 mm "normal" total.
Add to that, we're running 2°C below normal, and we've seen 41% of our possible sunshine (normal for April is 52%).
The rain has helped Lake Michigan water levels, but not as much as one would expect.
This weekend they're predicting 21°C and sunny, finally. We'll see.