Chicagoland in midst of third-warmest October of past 98 years

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

Thursday featured a return to above normal daytime high temperatures following a cool Wednesday.

The mercury reached 69 degrees at O’Hare International Airport, but many suburban locations warmed into the 70s, with the highest area reading at far south suburban Herscher. 

The milder temperatures occurred amid more than 90% of the day’s potential sunshine.  

Thursday mid afternoon temperature snapshot and change from the same time on Wednesday.

Many suburbs enjoyed mild readings in the 70s with other areas well into the 60s, marking a 24 hour increase of 10 or more degrees. 

Unseasonably warm first half of October  

The 66.1-degree daily average temperature so far this month at Midway Airport is more than 7-degrees above normal and ranks 3^rd warmest of any October to date since observations began there in 1928.  Only 2021 and 1962 have opened any warmer. 

October U.S. temperature anomaly

Warmth has been widespread across the Midwest this month with cooler than normal temperatures across California and Oregon. Overall, the Lower 48 is running 3.8-degrees above normal.