Chicagoland comes off seventh-coldest late February period since 1928 

The slow climb out of the deep freeze continued Friday. Highs reached the upper 20s, nearly 5-degrees warmer than Thursday, thanks to a second consecutive day with 100% of our possible sunshine.

That’s something that hasn’t happened here in nearly 4.5 months when three straight completely sunny days occurred October 9-11 last year.   

The warm-up is welcomed sight for cold-weary Chicagoans, coming off the seventh coldest late February period on record dating back nearly a century at Midway Airport since 1928. 

A check of late afternoon temperatures across the Midwest indicates the milder air is taking hold as many areas are seeing 24-hour temperature increases of 20+ degrees.

While temperatures were still well below normal across the nation’s heartland,  a noticeable increase was taking place across the northern Plains. Rapid City, SD on Thursday shivered with a record breaking -19 degrees, but temperatures soared Friday to a high of 46 degrees.

That’s an eye catching day-to-day temperature increase of 65-degrees!     

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