Science & Nature
October in Chicago Was One for the Weather Record Books
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
November has a tough act to follow after October delivered unseasonably warm and dry weather.
The average temperature of 60.8 degrees in Chicago was 6.8 degrees above normal, good enough to earn a tie for the sixth warmest October in the more than 150 years since record keeping began, according to the National Weather Service.
The average high was 70 degrees and the average low was 51.6 degrees.
The peak came on Oct. 12, when Chicago set a daily record high temperature of 88 degrees. In all, the temperature topped 60 degrees on 28 days out of 31, tying the record for most 60-degree days in October.
The coldest high temperature was 57 degrees, observed on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17, setting a new record for warmest minimum high temperature in October.
Overnight lows were 50 degrees or above on 21 days; temperatures only dipped below 40 degrees once, on Oct. 17, but never fell as low as freezing in Chicago.
Rainfall totaled 2.61 inches for the month, or .82 inches below normal. But it was even drier than those numbers indicate, with 2.3 of those inches falling on just two days.
A cool down is coming later in the week and into the upcoming weekend, the weather service said.
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
