First, the Severe Weather Thread is below this brief story.
WOW! Shiverin' Shoreline!! A "pneumonia front" has moved through the Chicago area!! A strong cold front, known locally as a "pneumonia front" has just moved southern Lake Michigan. Look at the difference:
At 1 pm, Gary, Indiana was 75 degrees with a southwest wind at 15 mph. One hour later at 2 pm, they were down to 50° with a north wind at 26 mph and a peak gust of 44 mph! Michigan City IN just dropped from 64° to 44° in an hour, with a wind shift from west at 12 mph to north at 23 mph. The Chicago Water Intake (see current pic. - about 2 3/4 miles east of downtown) saw a temperature drop from 63.7° to 41.0° in an hour (that's 22.7 degrees).
I assume there was a drop of about 20 degrees at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs are playing their season opener.
Sometimes these fronts are accompanied by fog. I remember I was at the lakeshore, where I grew up in Wilmette IL. In an hour, the beach had a temperature drop from 80 to 49. If I remember right, that was in the first week of May.
Thanks, Bill! Great read. I liked your comments today about Susan Shaw on the noon news. She’s been a jewel in Channel 8 News Dept.