National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
142 PM CDT FRI JUN 1 2012 /242 PM EDT FRI JUN 1 2012/

...A LOOK BACK AT THE CLIMATE FOR RECORD WARM SPRING 2012 FOR CHICAGO
AND ROCKFORD...

AT CHICAGO...THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE SEASON WAS 66.5
DEGREES WHICH IS 8.0 DEGREES ABOVE THE 1981 TO 2010 AVERAGE. THE
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 46.6 DEGREES WHICH IS 7.8 DEGREES ABOVE
THE 1981 TO 2010 AVERAGE. OVERALL...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR
THE SEASON WAS 56.6 DEGREES WHICH IS 8.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.
THIS IS 0.4 DEGREES WARMER THAN THE PREVIOUS RECORD WARM SPRING OF
1977.

A TOTAL OF 8.71 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS RECORDED DURING THIS
PAST SPRING...WHICH IS 0.85 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THERE WAS ONLY A
TOTAL OF 0.3 INCHES OF SNOW RECORDED AT OHARE THIS SPRING...ALL ON
MARCH 2. THIS IS 6.5 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.

RECORD HIGHS WERE SET OR TIED AT OHARE ON 9 DAYS IN MARCH...ALL
DURING THE INCREDIBLE HEAT WAVE OF MARCH 14 TO MARCH 22. RECORD
WARM LOWS WERE SET OR TIED ON 7 DAYS IN MARCH...WITH 6 OCCURRING
FROM MARCH 14 TO MARCH 23. THERE WERE NO RECORD HIGHS OR WARM LOWS
IN APRIL...BUT THEN THERE WERE 2 RECORD HIGHS IN MAY...ON MAY 27
AND MAY 28...WITH A RECORD WARM LOW ALSO OCCURRING ON MAY 28.
ADDITIONALLY...THE 97 DEGREE HIGH TEMPERATURE ON MAY 27 WAS THE
EARLIEST 97 DEGREE READING ON RECORD IN CHICAGO. FURTHERMORE...THE
95 DEGREE HIGH TEMPERATURE ON MAY 28 WAS THE WARMEST MEMORIAL DAY
ON RECORD IN CHICAGO. THERE WERE NO RECORD LOWS OR RECORD LOW
HIGH TEMPERATURES RECORDED IN SPRING 2012 AT OHARE.

AT ROCKFORD...THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 67.0 DEGREES WHICH
IS 7.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 44.6
DEGREES WHICH IS 6.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. OVERALL...THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE FOR THE SEASON WAS 55.8 DEGREES WHICH IS 6.9 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL. THIS IS 0.6 DEGREES WARMER THAN THE PREVIOUS RECORD
WARM SPRING OF 1977.

A TOTAL OF 7.84 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WERE RECORDED DURING THIS
PAST SPRING...WHICH WAS 1.85 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. OF THIS
TOTAL...2.26 INCHES OCCURRED ON APRIL 15...A RECORD FOR THE DATE.
IN ADDITION...A TOTAL OF 3.0 INCHES OF SNOW WAS RECORDED. THIS IS
2.7 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.

RECORD HIGHS WERE SET OR TIED AT ROCKFORD ON 8 DAYS IN
MARCH...ALL DURING THE HEAT WAVE. RECORD WARM LOWS WERE SET OR
TIED ON 10 DAYS IN MARCH...INCLUDING AN INCREDIBLE 9 CONSECUTIVE
DAYS FROM MARCH 15 TO MARCH 23. THERE WERE NO RECORD WARM HIGHS OR
WARM LOWS IN APRIL AT ROCKFORD...BUT THEN RECORD HIGHS WERE SET OR
TIED ON TWO DAYS IN MAY...ON MAY 24 AND MAY 27...WITH A RECORD
WARM LOW TIED ON MAY 28. ADDITIONALLY...THE 99 DEGREE HIGH
TEMPERATURE ON MAY 27 WAS THE EARLIEST 99 DEGREE READING ON RECORD
AT ROCKFORD. INTERESTINGLY...THE RECORD WARM SPRING OF 2012 AT
ROCKFORD CLOSED ON A COLD NOTE...WITH A RECORD LOW HIGH TEMPERATURE
OF 52 DEGREES ON MAY 31.

$$

RC