Conditions are clear and unseasonably cool this Monday. (Credit: CBS)
Reporting Mary Kay Kleist
CHICAGO (CBS) — The weather is cool and springlike Monday, but don’t get used to it.
CBS 2 Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist says by the end of the week, the temperature could exceed 100 degrees in Chicago for the first time in nearly seven years.
As of 11:20 a.m. Monday, it was 71 degrees at O’Hare International Airport, with sunny skies and a northeast breeze sending some much-welcome cool air over Lake Michigan. The temperature at Midway was also 71, at the lakefront 70, and at Waukegan 66.
The forecast high for the day Monday is 73.
A ridge of high pressure is now over northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, sending cooler air down from the north. But the ridge is not sticking around.
The high for Tuesday is 80, and on Wednesday, a warm front pushes extreme heat northeast from the Great Plains. The high for Wednesday is 90, and for Thursday 99 – although many areas, particularly in the suburbs, could see 100 or more.
The last day the temperature officially exceeded 100 in Chicago – at O’Hare, that is – was July 24, 2005, although Northerly Island saw a high of 100 on July 20 of last year.
The high for Friday is 95, for Saturday 88, and for Sunday 87.
Meanwhile, the lack of rain continues to frustrate Chicagoans as it parches their backyard gardens. A developing drought continues, as the precipitation for the year so far is just 12.65 inches – compared with an average of 15.55 inches by this time of year.
By contrast, parts of Florida – including the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas – area seeing near-constant rain as Hurricane Debby passes nearby. By the end of the week, some areas farther north in the Florida Panhandle could see 2 feet of rain.
