Thursday was 16th consecutive day with above normal temperatures

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

New drought update from the USDA 

The area of abnormally dry increased to 97% across the state and the area of moderate drought grew from 63% to 67%.

Paltry September rainfall numbers

Both O’Hare and Midway have seen lackluster rainfall amounts this month, in fact there won’t be another drop of rain to fall the remainder of September. The official 0.49″ total at O’Hare will make this a tie for the 7^th driest September on the books here since official records began in 1871.  

Thursday high temperatures

Temperatures have been above normal uninterrupted since September 10^th as highs peaked into the upper 70s at both airports Thursday afternoon and even touched 80 degrees in far southwest suburban locations. Modest cooling was noted along the lakefront thanks to a northerly wind. 

Thursday sunshine

Cloud cover mixed with the day’s sun at times, and we logged about half the possible sunshine. Parts of northwest Indiana even saw some lake effect rain showers in the morning and into early afternoon while everyone else stayed dry.  

Thursday peak pollen data