Chicago breaks heat record with 97-degree day
Sun-Times staff May 27, 2012 10:46AM
Updated: July 3, 2012 11:36AM
A new high temperature for May 27 has been set in Chicago: 97 degrees.
The record high temperature for the date had been 94 degrees, set in 1911, according to the National Weather Service.
The temperature recorded at O’Hare International Airport, was 97 degrees by 4 p.m., according to the weather service.
An Air Quality Action Day has been declared for portions of the metropolitan area in northwest Indidna for Sunday afternoon and evening, according to the weather service. Ozone levels are expected to be in the unhealthy range.
Thunderstorms are likely Monday afternoon and Monday night, ahead of a cold front, according to the weather service. Some of the thunderstorms may become severe.
The normal high is a comfortable 74 degrees, but hot, humid weather pushing into the Chicago area today should set a new, unwelcome record.
“We’re just getting warm stuff up from the southwest,” said Amy Seeley, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
The heat wave should last only a day or two, with high temperatures falling back into the 70s by Tuesday, Seeley said.
