LAST MONTH IN CHICAGO, Did It Seem Cold? Good Reason - January Was Among the Coldest On Record!
AVERAGE DAILY TEMP OF 15.9 DEGREES LAST MONTH MADE IT COLDEST IN 15 YEARS!
Brrrrrr! Seemed cold last month here in Chicago . . . yes?
Indeed, January, 2009 was the tenth coldest in City of Chicago Recorded Weather History, dating back nearly 140 years, according to a Chicago Tribune Staff Report in last Saturday's paper. On January 31st - last Saturday - the high of 38 degrees was the highest reading all month. That's the first time since 1985 January temperatures failed to reach 40 degrees - and only the ninth time since records began to be taken in 1871!
Expect cold weather here tonight through Wednesday, followed by a mid-winter heat wave - into the 40's - during the coming weekend. Tropical? No. but a sure bet to melt some of the 10+ inches of snow cover here that has built up, virtually unmelted, since just after the New Year.
Any chance for a quick end to our Chicago Winter Temperatures this year? Not if you listen to our local weather-predicting rodents this Groundhog Day!
Another Tribune Staff Report from this morning says groundhog Woodstock Willie, who hails from the Chicago Suburb of Woodstock IL, where the 1993 Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day was actually filmed, spotted his shadow after a reluctant early morning emergence from his pen. In Brookfield IL, at the famous Chicago Brookfield Zoo, lady groundhog Tumbleweed ventured out and spotted her shadow just after 10:30 this morning.
And, to seal the deal, the Groundhog Day Patriarch - Punxsutawney Phil, also saw his shadow today when he emerged from his burrow in PA.
What that means, according to the World Famous Groundhog Almanac - two things!
First, there will be six more weeks of cold Chicago Winter Weather.
And, second, it's very likely you'll spend the next 200 mornings getting up to the Sonny & Cher song, "I Got You, Babe" on your alarm clock radio! (See the Groundhog Day movie, and you'll know what I mean here).
So keep those snow boots and heavy coats out for a while longer - Chicago Winter, 2009 is likely not going to end very soon.
At least we here in the Midwest are more hearty than residents of London UK. Across the pond, a mere 4" of snow has paralyzed that city! AP Reporter Gregory Katz covers that story in today's Chicago Tribune.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
