The city of Chicago has likely seen its warmest February on record, but will those warm temperatures continue into the new month?
According to the latest models from the Climate Prediction Center, it appears that those warm readings will indeed continue, with the newest projections released on Thursday.
According to those models, there is at least a 60-to-70% likelihood that the Chicago area and the entire upper Midwest will see warmer-than-normal temperatures between March 8-14. The projections are roughly the same for the first week of the month as well, indicating that we could continue to see balmy temperatures even as March begins.
What’s more, the three-to-four week outlook is even more confident in above-average temperatures, with a 70-to-80% chance of warmer than normal readings.
According to the National Weather Service, the average high temperatures for the beginning of March typically settle into the low-40s, rising into the mid-40s by the middle of the month.
The CPC’s projections indicate that readings could be above that level, but aren’t indicative of just how far above normal the temperatures could get, according to the model guidance.
Those warm temperatures will come at a bit of a price, however. According to the CPC, the projections are leaning toward a wetter-than-normal start to the month, and given the state of the temperatures, more rain than normal could occur during those times.
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