Fall is over, weather experts say. Here are Chicago’s hottest, coldest and wettest days of the season.
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The shortest day of the year — Dec. 21 — usually signals winter’s arrival.
But for meteorologists, fall was so yesterday.
That’s because experts prefer to track weather in four increments of three months each — instead of astronomical seasons, which are defined by equinoxes and solstices.
So, Dec. 1 is the start of meteorological winter, which sticks around until the end of February.
WGN-Ch. 9 chief meteorologist Tom Skilling is frequently asked why forecasters prefer to follow meteorological seasons.
“I prefer meteorological winter — and the other three seasons: spring (March to May), summer (June to August) and fall (September to November) — because they are unvarying in their beginning and ending dates. This is essential in making comparisons between seasons (temperatures, for example) from one year to another. The data are always from identical periods of time,” Skilling said.
Meteorological fall 2022
Illinois state climatologist Trent Ford sums up the fall season as dry and pleasant.
“Although Chicago was drier than normal this season, it wasn’t extremely so,” he wrote in an email to the Tribune. “This season will likely end as (one of the) top 20-30 driest falls on record.”
Ford says this gave Chicagoans the chance to get out and enjoy the hospitable weather — unlike October 2021, when temperatures were hot and combined with lots of rainy days.
Here’s a look back at key dates to highlight meteorological fall 2022′s significant events.
Warmest high temperature: 88 degrees
Sept. 1 and 3, 2022
Brett Borchardt, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Chicago office, says the season was warmer than average — with November logging nine days with high temperatures above 60 degrees and another five days above 70 degrees.
Just one new record high was recorded in the past 91 days, though — 76 degrees on Nov. 10.
Coldest low temperature: 13 degrees
Nov. 20, 2022
The new record high of 76 degrees observed at O’Hare International Airport, the city’s official weather reporting site, on Nov. 10 was immediately followed by Chicago’s first official freeze of the season on Nov. 11 — about two weeks later than normal.
The area continued to experience cooler-than-normal temperatures for the next 10 days — including the coldest night of the season on Nov. 20 — before bounding higher than normal until the last day of the month.
Highest daily rain accumulation: 1.45 inches
Sept. 11, 2022
Severe weather — including damaging winds, hail and/or a tornado — was recorded six times this fall. That’s double the norm, Borchardt said.
Significant events include:
Sept. 11-12: Heavy rain resulting in flash flooding on the city’s North Side
Sept. 18: Hail the size of pingpong balls in Geneva and St. Charles
Sept. 20: Scattered thunderstorms and wind damage in northern Illinois
Nov. 5: Damaging winds sweep across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana
Yet rain has been elusive.
Chicago’s rainfall total is more than 7 inches below average for this year, Borchardt said. The metro area is abnormally dry, with portions in moderate drought.
Highest daily snow accumulation: 1 inch
Nov. 15, 2022
A trace of snow was observed at O’Hare airport on Oct. 17, but the first measurable snowfall of the fall season arrived about a month later when an inch was recorded at O’Hare airport. Ford said it this “timely but reduced” snowfall was right on schedule though the season total is about an inch below normal.
Last year, Chicago received its first measurable snowfall of the season on Dec. 28 — the latest date of a first snowfall in Chicago history going back to 1885.
What to expect this winter
Snow! But also quiet and mild stretches, too, Borchardt said.
“That much is a certainty no matter the year or outlook.”
Chicago receives the bulk of its annual average snowfall total — about 38 inches — from December through February.
Currently, he says, above normal precipitation is in the forecast with average to below average temperatures.
“This does not necessarily mean more snow, but rather we may remain in an active pattern with frequent storm systems and opportunities for precipitation,” he said.
Twitter @rumormill
