Chicago just logged its warmest February on record — and its 5th warmest winter
It's official – this past February finished as Chicago's warmest February on record, with the average temperature ending up over 10 degrees above normal, the National Weather Service Chicago reported.
The end of the month also brought on the end of meteorological winter, which spans from December through February. Overall, this winter was the fifth warmest on record, logging in at 6.8 degrees above normal.
Outside of mid-January, the season was “exceptionally mild and featured little snowfall,” the weather service wrote in its most recent climate summary. A total of 18.5 inches of snow were recorded, which is 11.1 inches below normal.
The season saw a number of other daily and Top Ten monthly records.
In December, Christmas Day hit its highest minimum temperature on record at 50 degrees. The month itself tied as the fourth warmest December on record since 1872 with a mean average temperature of 39 degrees.
In February — along with the monthly record — the month saw its record daily maximum temperature of 71 degrees on the 26th. This was also the first 70-degree temperature reading in the month of February since 2017.
Climate experts say this winter’s unseasonable temperatures are caused by the current seasonal climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean, El Niño — but also by climate change. That’s because from a long-term perspective, the state’s average daily temperatures have increased by 1 to 2 degrees over the last century, a 2020 study found.
With global warming as a main driver, these warm winters — which are beginning to raise concerns for agriculture, plant ecology, and even allergy sufferers — are likely to persist in the coming decades, experts say.
• Jenny Whidden, jwhidden@dailyherald.com, is a climate change and environment writer working with the Daily Herald through a partnership with Report For America supported by The Nature Conservancy. To help support her work with a tax-deductible donation, see dailyherald.com/rfa.