Chicago's winters aren't exactly balmy, especially after wind chills of -16 degrees were reported Sunday morning at O'Hare International Airport, but according to a new report, this winter has been less frigid than most.
The National Weather Service's Winter Midterm Report Card finds the Chicago area's first half of meteorological winter ranked among the warmest since measurement started pre-1900.
"Check out the 'report card' on winter so far," the National Weather Service tweeted Sunday. "We think you'll find it interesting. Spoiler alert: it's been one of the warmest on record!"
The area's average temperatures between Dec. 1, 2019, and Jan. 15 were about 7.2 degrees above normal, according to the NWS, and snowfall during the same period was 8.4 inches below normal.
"Only four of the first 46 days of winter were 5 degrees or more below average, while 29 were 5 degrees or more above average," the report card stated.
And Christmas 2019 was more than 20 degrees warmer than both Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Local
Looking back, this winter ranks 12th warmest on record with an average temperature of 33.7 degrees, according to the NWS. The warmest goes to an average temperature of 38.8 degrees set in 1890.
