Friday’s unseasonably mild weather: Warmest day in three weeks

NOTE: This article has been turned into an almanac of Friday’s weather. The WGN Weather Center has published

a new article for the remainder of Friday’s storm threat and Saturday’s weather.

Temperatures soared well into the 70s Friday afternoon, and in some spots, even reached the low 80s. The official 76 degree high temperature made this the warmest day in three weeks, since a 78 degree high back on March 28. 

The area’s “hot spots” occurred in Northwest Indiana where Hebron and Gary both reached 81 degrees. 

A gusty southwest wind was the main driving force behind the unseasonably warmth and “humid” feel to the air. Cloudy skies dominated the scene all day long or temperatures would have been much warmer.

Across the U.S, summerlike warmth dominated the eastern two thirds, while unseasonably chilly air had temperatures well below normal across portions of the Rockies.  

As of Friday evening, scattered thunderstorms were starting to pop up across portions of the Chicago area. Earlier in the day a line of severe thunderstorms produced a swath of large, damaging hail across southern Wisconsin from golf ball size to as large as baseball size.  

There was an uptick in pollen numbers Friday with the warmer and windy conditions.