So, Chicagoans, think we’ve been having some crappy weather lately? Yeah, we’ve seen you cursing the heavens as springtime sun and rains turn to winter gray and snow. But, really, we’ve had it pretty easy. Look at what we’ve dealt with in the past (info thanks to WGN’s own Tom Skilling).
Cold as ice
On Jan. 20, 1985, Chicago experienced its coldest day ever: minus-27 degrees. And, as if that wasn’t enough, 36 m.p.h. winds pushed the wind chill to minus-93 degrees. Dang.
Makes that 41-degree high the other day seem downright balmy, eh?
Snow blows
We celebrated New Year’s in 1999 watching snow fall and fall–and fall. In all, 21.6 inches came down from Jan. 1 to 3. Jan. 2 alone received 18.6 inches, the city’s most ever on a single day.
That’s a lot of digging–and a lot of chairs reserving street parking spots. Happy New Year!
Ice, ice baby
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Another New Year’s celebration came to a halt in 1948, when a 13-hour ice storm coated the city with up to a half-inch of ice. The roads were so slippery, a traffic emergency was declared, clearing all but emergency vehicles from Chicago’s streets. Seven people died.
All traffic shut down: That’s one way to solve that tollway congestion.
Too hot
In July 1995, 525 people died during a heat wave that turned into one of the worst weather disasters in Illinois history. From July 12-16, temperatures topped out at 98, 106, 102, 99 and 94. The 106-degree day is the hottest ever recorded at Midway since 1928.
Think about that when you’re complaining and sweating as you stuff your face at the Taste this summer.
Lake Aurora
On July 17-18, 1996, 16.94 inches of rain fell in Aurora during a 24-hour period, flooding homes and turning the western suburbs into disaster areas.
Umbrellas and raincoats were no match.
Tornado alley
An F5 tornado tore a 16-mile-long, 600-yard-wide path through the southwest and western suburbs, particularly Plainfield, in 1990 with 318 m.p.h. winds, killing 29 people.
It doesn’t get any uglier than that.
OVERALL: Really, when you think about it, Mother Nature has been more than kind to us so far this spring.