Chicago Weather

Chicago experiences one of its warmest springs on record

File image of the sun.
NBC Bay Area

Astronomical spring technically won’t end for two more weeks, but the city of Chicago just experienced one of its warmest meteorological springs on record.

Meteorological spring runs from March 1 to May 31, and according to the National Weather Service, the month was one of the warmest its identified since recordkeeping began in 1871.

According to NWS data, the spring’s average temperature was 53.8 degrees, 4.1 degrees above normal. The average temperature represents the mean between the high temperature and the low temperature on a given day, according to officials.

That average temperature is the fourth-warmest on record, according to officials.

The month of May played a big role in that mark, as the city saw an average temperature of 64.8 degrees at O’Hare International Airport. That mark is 4.2 degrees above normal, and marks the third-warmest month of May on record in Chicago.

Those warm temperatures could continue this summer, as a La Niña pattern could potentially emerge as an El Niño pattern comes to an end. Typically, La Niña summers bring warmer temperatures to the Chicago area and the rest of the Midwest, with above-average precipitation during those months.

If that pattern takes hold, the fall season is typically cooler than normal, according to researchers at the University of Illinois.

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