National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Frigid Airmass to Bring Significantly Colder Temperatures; Snow Continues Downwind of the Great Lakes

A frigid cold airmass will bring significantly colder weather across the eastern two thirds of the country early this week. Record low temperatures are expected in the Southeast by Tuesday morning. Moderate to heavy lake effect snow will continue downwind of the Great Lakes through Monday. Several inches of snow accumulation is expected, including in portions of the Chicago Metro Read More >

Putting the Chilly July 2009 into Perspective - #1 Coldest at Rockford since 1906, #7 Coldest at Chicago since 1872

 

Rockford had the coldest July ever on record, running 2F colder than the previous coldest July on record.

In Chicago, July 2009 will go down as the 7th coldest July on record. However...in 1942 the official recording station was moved away from the lakefront. If we look at temperature data from 1942 to present...the July 2009 average temperature of 69.4 would rank second coldest.  The coldest July on record since 1942 was 69.3 degrees set back in 1992. 

Here are the top ten coldest July's on record for both Rockford and Chicago.

 

Rockford    Average Temp     Year   
 1 67.0 2009
 2 69.0 1915
 3 69.1 1992
  69.1 1996
 5 69.5 1962
  69.5 1967
 7 69.8 1924
 8 70.3 2004
 9 70.7 1971
 10 70.8 1984

 

 

Chicago    Average Temp      Year   

July data from 1872-2009
Entire period of record for Chicago

 

 1 67.0 1891
 2 68.5 1884
 3 68.7 1882
 4 68.8 1873
  68.8 1875
 6 69.3 1992
 7 69.4 2009
8 69.9 1996
 9 70.2 1895
  70.2 1915
Chicago Average Temp    Year   

July data from 1942-2009
Period when official Chicago station moved away from lakefront

 1 69.3 1992
 2 69.4 2009
 3 69.9 1996
 4 70.3 1984
 5 70.6 1967
  6  71.1 1947
  71.1 2000
8 71.2 2004
 9 71.4 1985
 10 71.7 1990