Lake Michigan sunrise along North Avenue beach. (Credit: Natalie Cheng/CBS Chicago)
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Updated 06/26/12 – 7:41 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) — The area could experience something so rare that it has only happened once since 2000: A day when the high temperature cracks 100 degrees.
It could come on Thursday, says CBS 2 meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist when temps could hit 101 — or higher. That would be one degree off the record for that day.
CBS 2′s Brad Edwards reports the city is warning residents to take precautions, and treat extreme heat like an emergency.
Office of Emergency Management and Communications executive director Gary Schenkel suggested residents should check on any elderly or disabled neighbors during the heat, to make sure they are safe.
Maywood resident Mary McLemore, 89, said, “It’s an inconvenience and it scares you.”
McLemore has trouble walking and, and her air conditioning is broken.
“I don’t have the money to get it fixed, or the finances to get a new one,” she said.
Luckily, she does have a guardian angel — her home health aide, Lisa Panzani.
“A lot of them are isolated, without a lot of family or friend support,” Panzani said. “Some of our elderly patients may not even be aware a heat wave is coming until we tell them.”
Panzani is a registered nurse at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital Home Health, where 20 nurses monitor 160 mostly elderly patients.
“A lot of them don’t want fans blowing on them, they don’t want their air conditioning on – sometimes because they’re worried about their electricity bill,” said Panzani. “We tell them not to worry about their bill, but their health.”
Officials suggested residents use fans to keep cool, stay hydrated, have cold compresses ready, keep their blinds closed during the day, and make sure they have a list of emergency contacts to keep in touch.
“My nurse told me to drink water and stay by a fan and I will,” said McLemore.
The hottest day ever recorded in Chicago was July 24, 1934, when the temperature hit 105.
During the killer 1995 heatwave, in which 750 hundred people died, the mercury hit 104 on July 13, 1995. That official reading was taken at O’Hare International Airport, but the temperature at Midway hit 106.
Temperatures of 100 degrees or more in Chicago are actually fairly rare.
In fact, since 2000, there has been only one day above 100, according to the National Weather Service.
1988 was especially brutal, with seven days of 100 degrees or more.
Here is a list of 100-degree days in Chicago:
July 16, 1887: 100
July 17, 1887: 100
July 10, 1901: 102
July 21, 1901: 103
*July 3, 1911: 100
*July 4, 1911: 102
*July 5, 1911: 102
July 27, 1916: 100
July 30, 1916: 102
August 5, 1918: 102
August 6, 1918: 101
August 12, 1918: 101
July 19, 1930: 101
June 7, 1933: 100
June 27, 1933: 100
June 1, 1934: 102
July 22, 1934: 101
July 24, 1934: 105
August 8, 1934: 100
July 10, 1936: 102
September 7, 1939: 100
July 24, 1940: 101
July 25, 1940: 101
July 17, 1942: 100
June 27, 1944: 100
July 18, 1946: 100
*August 4, 1947: 100
*August 5, 1947: 100
*August 6, 1947: 101
August 24, 1947: 100
July 3, 1949: 102
June 28, 1952: 101
June 19, 1953: 102
June 20, 1953: 104
September 1, 1953: 101
September 2, 1953: 101
June 25, 1954: 100
July 27, 1955: 100
July 1, 1956: 103
September 7, 1960: 100
June 27, 1971: 101
June 28, 1971: 101
July 10, 1976: 100
July 7, 1980: 102
July 20, 1980: 101
July 22, 1983: 100
July 28, 1983: 100
**June 20, 1988: 104
**June 21, 1988: 101
**June 25, 1988: 103
**July 14, 1988: 100
**July 15, 1988: 102
**August 1, 1988: 100
**August 2, 1988: 100
July 10, 1989: 101
July 22, 1991: 101
August 2, 1991: 101
July 13, 1995: 104
July 14, 1995: 100
July 30, 1999: 101
July 24, 2005: 102
* Greatest number of consecutive 100 degree days (3)
**Greatest number of 100 degree days in one year (7)
