My Weather in Northeastern Illinois
Spring:
Springtime usually comes in cold and sometimes snowy. Some March's it's been close to 80 or down in the 20's.We've been known to have snow throught April right into the first week of May, but that's rare. We usually get one snow in April, before it warms up. Most of the days in springtimeare mild unless you live right along the lake. Where the water temperatures are cool still. That cool air just slides over the more light warm air and cools the lakeshore areas towards noontime. If there's a strong enough wind out of the west lets say, it will keep the cold air out over the lake. This area is known for potent thunderstorms to in the spring season. We usually get between 3-5 tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings from April to June. Some storms have been really something else! Temperatures vary between 25-90 during this time. Or last frost is usually around May 10th. As spring goes on we get more storms and warmer air.
Summer:
Summertime is usually warm and humid. Afternoon thunderstorms usually erupt under hot and humid conditions. We have generous amounts of rain and lightning during these storms. Some storms drop up to six inches of rain in a matter of a few hours. Our severe weather season drops off rapidly by early August. Temperatures range in the daytime between the 60's to the low 100's. Nightime lows can get as cool as the fourties to as high as 80. Our record high here is 107(heat Index 122), which was at Midway Airport in Chicago in July of 1995. We have heat waves that last a week or more. Droughts that last a month or more, like in 1988. It's usually humid with a dewpoint of 65/70 and in the 80's during a typical summer day here. Water temperatures reach as high as 80, but can stay as low as the upper 60's.
Autumn:
Fall is a nice time of the year around here. The heat and the humidity of summer is passing. The air is drier with many sunny days. Temperatures range between a rare 90 to the teens in November. September and October are quite. Not much rain or snow. One year it snowed on the last week of September. It doesn't cool down till the last week of October, but even then we have Indian summer almost every year in November with temps between 65-70. Thunderstorms are least likely to pop up this time of year. The storms start in around Halloween and beyond with rain and snow. We average about 2 inches of snow in fall; rain is less then 4 inches. The first frost comes around October 12th, especially away from the lake. The lake stays mild till it starts to snow. The peak fall colors occur around the 15th of October and lasts till the end of the month.
Winter:
Wintertime can be rough around here. The first big snow of a foot or more comes around Christmas time. We average 42 inches of snow. Areas along the lake recieve more snow, from lake effect snow storms that can cripple the region. Snow per year varies from 20 inches to as much as 100 inches in 1978-1979. We had a record snowfall accumulation in December of 2000 which was 45 inches.Most of the storms that we get are snow makers. But sometimes we get warm enough to see rain. It almost never rains in January, with an average of 15 inches of snow. Temperatures range between an occasional 60 degree reading to a bone-chilling -30. Many day's there are wind chill's that can run as low as -90. We can have little snows or big blizzards that blow up and dump snow all over. Our snow cover usually lasts from the last week of December till the second week in February. We usually have a February thaw in the first or second week with temps in the 50's. Things calm down towards the first day of spring snow wise, but it remains cool.