It’s hot, but not for long
Memorial Day suburban celebrations went off unfettered by record-high temperatures. The thermostat hit 95 degrees around 1 p.m. in the suburban Chicago area.
The previous record for an unseasonably hot Memorial Day was set in 1977 when it hit 93 degrees at O’Hare International Airport.
It was the second-straight day of record highs with the temperature hitting 97 degrees Sunday — the previous record for the Sunday before Memorial Day was 94 degrees set back in 1911, said Samuel Shea, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
It’s the earliest date on record for 97-degree weather. The last time that happened was in 1934 when a record high of 98 degrees was reached, according to the National Weather Service website.
But don’t jack up the air conditioning just yet. It’s about to get a whole lot cooler, warns Shea.
“We’ve got a cold front that’s going to be coming through and bringing temperatures back down back to normal,” Shea said. Monday “is sort of the last day of the heat. We’re expecting temperatures to slowly fall throughout the week.”
Temperatures will dip below normal for this time of year, starting Tuesday, with highs in the mid-60s for the Chicago area as colder air blows in from the Northwest.
For more on weather conditions and warnings, visit crh.noaa.gov/lot/.