2020 Record Hot/Warm Summer For Chicago

[Chicago Storm]

I have a ton of stats I’ve compiled, which will be posted tomorrow. I’m sure Hoosier will have stuff to add as well.

 

 

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[Hoosier]

48 minutes ago, Chicago Storm said:

 

I have a ton of stats I’ve compiled, which will be posted tomorrow. I’m sure Hoosier will have stuff to add as well.

 

 

.

 

I have nothing.  Don't want to steal your thunder.

[A-L-E-K]

i think i hit 90 IMBY like 4 times

[Chicago Storm]

Gonna split things in multiple posts by lows, highs and monthly/seasonal...

[Chicago Storm]

Will start with low temps...

A few top 10's and top 5's occurred with with a few of the stats. Most interesting/noteworthy was the amount of days 70+ low temps and the 3rd most days with 65+ lows on record, both for summer overall.

[Chicago Storm]

High temps...

More noteworthy overall than low temps from the previous post. The amount of days with 85+ highs and 80+ highs was towards the top of the list each month. Record most 85+ and 80+ days in a summer, and 10th most 90+ days in summer.

[Chicago Storm]

Lastly, overall stats...

Warmest summer on record, along with a top 10 warmest June/July/August and a top 10 driest August as well.

[Hoosier]

This summer is the poster child for the beavis argument of "you can count on summer weather in summer."  The consistency of 80+ and 85+ degree highs is impressive.

[Chicago Storm]

8 hours ago, A-L-E-K said:

i think i hit 90 IMBY like 4 times

Between 10-15 times from what I gather.

[beavis1729]

2 hours ago, Hoosier said:

This summer is the poster child for the beavis argument of "you can count on summer weather in summer."  The consistency of 80+ and 85+ degree highs is impressive.

Ha, I agree and you beat me to it. 

Consistency of 85+ high temps plus warm (but not record-breaking) overnight lows due to UHI = record warm summer.  Never thought Chicago would see a record warm summer with only 3 days of 96+ highs.  UHI played a huge role.  One would expect overnight lows to be a bit cooler due to the general dry soils in the area throughout JJA, all else being equal.  But that didn't happen.  

Also, only 8 (!) of the 92 days this summer at ORD were below normal.  5 in June, 0 in July, 3 in August.

I still think there's something up with ORD's sensor, location, etc...as the temps at ORD this summer seemed to be materially higher than PWK, which isn't very far away (and isn't really much closer to the lake) as the crow flies.  At a minimum, it illustrates the scientific "peril" of having wx obs taken at airports.  Besides the UHI due to the abundance of concrete at airports, it doesn't help when ORD does construction on runways and has to re-locate the sensor.  It tarnishes the historical record. 

Good stats Chicago Storm.

[Chicago Storm]

I still think there's something up with ORD's sensor, location, etc...as the temps at ORD this summer seemed to be materially higher than PWK, which isn't very far away (and isn't really much closer to the lake) as the crow flies.  At a minimum, it illustrates the scientific "peril" of having wx obs taken at airports.  Besides the UHI due to the abundance of concrete at airports, it doesn't help when ORD does construction on runways and has to re-locate the sensor.  It tarnishes the historical record. 

The sensor is fine.

However, construction this year has been on the uptick on the west side of the airport, as work on the eastern end of Route 390 has increased. There is also preliminary stuff beginning for I-490 on the NW/W/SW side of the airport. Lastly and possibly more importantly, there has been work this summer pretty much right where the sensor is, with a lot of bare ground in the area.


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[beavis1729]

52 minutes ago, Chicago Storm said:

The sensor is fine.

However, construction this year has been on the uptick on the west side of the airport, as work on the eastern end of Route 390 has increased. There is also preliminary stuff beginning for I-490 on the NW/W/SW side of the airport. Lastly and possibly more importantly, there has been work this summer pretty much right where the sensor is, with a lot of bare ground in the area.


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Good to know the sensor is fine, but all that other stuff is troubling. People outside of the scientific community probably don’t care...but it’s not good to disturb the site around a sensor over time. Shouldn’t the powers that be have considered this before moving the sensor to its current location?
 

One could argue that this biased temps upward just enough to land the hottest summer on record for Chicago. There will always be an asterisk. A similar thing probably happened when ORD only hit -21 on 1/31/2019, when many other sites in N IL were -25 to -30 or even colder. 
 

It just bothers me when science gets compromised like this. The lack of attention to detail is unfortunate. 

[Chicago Storm]

42 minutes ago, beavis1729 said:

Good to know the sensor is fine, but all that other stuff is troubling. People outside of the scientific community probably don’t care...but it’s not good to disturb the site around a sensor over time. Shouldn’t the powers that be have considered this before moving the sensor to its current location?
 

One could argue that this biased temps upward just enough to land the hottest summer on record for Chicago. There will always be an asterisk. A similar thing probably happened when ORD only hit -21 on 1/31/2019, when many other sites in N IL were -25 to -30 or even colder. 

The sensor was moved many years ago, and it's probably in one of the better possible areas it can be at this time. The NW/W/SW side of the airport has the most bits and pieces of open land at this time, and even that is going to vanish eventually. After Route 390, I-490 and the new terminal are fully complete several years from now, there really won't be a "good" place for the ASOS. I'm guessing that is when ORD will have a shot to overtake MDW as the consistently warmer location.

It's all relative really. ORD was 76.7 this summer and MDW was 76.4...So MDW still would have tied the record. If you dig into it even further, in 2012 ORD was 76.1 (now 4th warmest summer), but MDW was 77.3...which would have blown away the old 1921 record and new 2020 record for warmest summer.

Re: Jan 2019 cold...ORD was right on par with MDW and PWK for low temps during that time. The coldest readings were in the usual cold spots, outside of the immediate metro.

[A-L-E-K]

4 hours ago, Chicago Storm said:

Between 10-15 times from what I gather.

2 ez

[Kitchener poster]

The sensor comments are interesting. It’s put a few things in perspective. 

When we we hear things like “hottest year on record” or “wettest year on record” for a particular city....it’s really just a record for that particular weather station. 

[Hoosier]

Just out of curiosity, I took a look at Rockford's stats for the summer and they had their 6th warmest summer on record.  So yes, there was some local "enhancement" around Chicago, but it was one of the warmer summers across the area.

As far as Chicago, here is more from LOT:

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Chicago IL
401 PM CDT Tue Sep 1 2020 /501 PM EDT Tue Sep 1 2020/

...A Look Back at the Climate for Meteorological Summer (June,
July, August) 2020 for Chicago and Rockford...

At Chicago, the average high temperature for the summer season was
86.2 degrees, which is 4.3 degrees above the 1981 to 2010
average. The average low temperature was 67.1 degrees, which is
5.4 degrees above normal. The mean temperature for the season was
76.7 degrees, which is 4.9 degrees above normal.

[beavis1729]

Darker red color right by ORD. 

 

 

[purduewx80]

On 9/1/2020 at 6:16 PM, beavis1729 said:

Good to know the sensor is fine, but all that other stuff is troubling. People outside of the scientific community probably don’t care...but it’s not good to disturb the site around a sensor over time. Shouldn’t the powers that be have considered this before moving the sensor to its current location?
 

One could argue that this biased temps upward just enough to land the hottest summer on record for Chicago. There will always be an asterisk. A similar thing probably happened when ORD only hit -21 on 1/31/2019, when many other sites in N IL were -25 to -30 or even colder. 
 

It just bothers me when science gets compromised like this. The lack of attention to detail is unfortunate. 

meh. chicago will continue to expand into the burbs, and the burbs will continue to expand. it's not like UHI warming is fake - we all feel it.

[michsnowfreak]

1 hour ago, purduewx80 said:

meh. chicago will continue to expand into the burbs, and the burbs will continue to expand. it's not like UHI warming is fake - we all feel 

Very true. But it does add a bit of imbalance to weather records imo, especially in an age where every tenth of a degree is scrutinized for warmest (or coldest) placement.

[beavis1729]

3 hours ago, purduewx80 said:

meh. chicago will continue to expand into the burbs, and the burbs will continue to expand. it's not like UHI warming is fake - we all feel it.

Not saying it’s “fake”, I just don’t like how humans are artificially warming and modifying the environment around us. And it’s not good that the suburbs keep expanding. It’s not natural. 
 

Not saying humans should strive for a prehistoric utopia, but there needs to be a balance between long-term planning for the good of the earth vs. the individual freedoms that individuals and companies have to make short-term decisions at the expense of long-term considerations. Communities over individuals.