Wednesday almanac: Disappointingly cool but with much-needed rainfall

NOTE: This article is now an almanac of Wednesday’s weather. We have published a new forecast story for Thursday.

It was another disappointingly cool day across the area Wednesday with highs only reaching the lower 60s officially at both airports, a level more than 10 degrees below normal, and an 11^th consecutive day to post a temperature deficit.

The day began with a thick overcast and some much needed rainfall across the area, but the monthly tallies remain well below normal.

The cooler than normal temperatures encompassed much of the Central and Eastern U.S with highs more than 15-degrees below normal for several locations.   

High temperatures the past week

If your perception is that it’s been unusually cool, you are absolutely right. When looking at the average “high” temperature over the past week, the 63.1-degree average maximum temperature at Midway Airport is not only more than 10 degrees below normal, but it ranks as the 2^nd coolest late May period on the books there since observations began in 1928.

Only 2001 was any cooler.