Spring-Like Warm Spell Breaking Multiple Records In Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago set records for warmth three days in a row this weekend, and several more temperature records could go by the wayside by the end of this week.
Sunday's high of 69 topped the Feb. 19 record of 65 set in 1930. Saturday's high of 70 easily beat out the Feb. 18 record of 62, set in 1981, and Friday's high of 67 beat a record that stood for more than a century, topping the Feb. 17 record of 60 set in 1880.
This weekend was the first time Chicago has had three consecutive days of 60-degree temperatures in February since 1930, according to the National Weather Service.
The longest stretch of 60-plus weather in February in Chicago was a four-day stretch in 1976, and we should easily break that record this week, as highs should be well above 60 through Wednesday.
With temperatures expected to hit the 60s Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Chicago also should see its longest stretch of 60-plus days ever recorded during meteorological winter. The current record is five days in a row, set from Dec. 2-6 in 1998.
Chicago also should match the longest stretch of temperatures 50 degrees or better in February this week.
The city twice has had 8 days in a row of 50-plus weather in February – from Feb. 18-25 in 1930, and from Feb. 22-29 in 2000. The city should match that on Friday, before a return to more normal winter conditions on Saturday, when temperatures should top out in the upper 30s.
With no temperatures below freezing in the rest of the February forecast at this point, Chicago also should see its record-setting snow drought continue into March.
As of Sunday, the city has gone 64 days in a row without at least one inch of snow, matching the longest such snowless spell on record. Chicago has twice gone 64 days without at least an inch of snow: from Dec. 3-Feb. 4, 1905-1906; and from Dec. 23-Feb. 24, 1953-54.