December Lights

December Lights
Approaching the winter solstice, these are the shortest days. In fact, the earliest sunsets of the year occur before the winter solstice! In Chicago, the earliest sunsets are happening now. From December 3 to December 13, the sun sets at 4:19 pm. This is our season of lights– holiday lights, streetlights, the lights of peoples’ phones.  In... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
Monday at 5:20 pm
• 2 comments

The ginkgo and its leaves

The ginkgo and its leaves
The ginkgo is a very old tree–you might even call it prehistoric. Fossils of ginkgo leaves have been found dating back 270 million years. The ginkgo tree was alive during the time of the dinosaurs. It survived the bombing of Hiroshima. It will survive us, still. I think of the ginkgo as  the survivors’ tree, and you... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
November 15, 2018 at 11:25 am
• 2 comments

Now in November

November is here. Skies are mostly gray. The World Series is over. Now comes wind and cold and rain. Snow is not unusual. We are already past the halfway mark between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. Days grow shorter, now, and it will be dark even earlier in the evening after  we  set... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
November 5, 2018 at 11:17 am
• 2 comments
ChicagoNow Video
Advertisement:

U.N. climate report shows civilization is at stake if we don’t act now

U.N. climate report shows civilization is at stake if we don’t act now
Monday, October 15– It’s a chilly October day in Chicago. Friday, the sky looked like November, and the first traces of snow fell in LaSalle County. Saturday was bright and sunny for the Women’s March downtown to get out the vote in November. The sky was glorious blue. Last week, the United Nations issued a... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
October 15, 2018 at 11:20 am
• 12 comments

Autumn Equinox

Autumn Equinox
The Wheel of the Year  turns. It’s now just past the Autumn Equinox in the northern Hemisphere. The exact time was September 22 at 8:54 PM, CDT.  You can read more about the Autumn Equinox here. And it has been feeling autumnal lately–cool mornings, clear blue sky, the light ripe and gold. It’s the season of... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
September 24, 2018 at 2:25 pm
• 4 comments

Survivors

Survivors
Hurricane Florence made landfall on  Friday morning near Wilmington, N.C., as a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of about 90 miles an hour.  On Saturday, the storm  had crossed into South Carolina about 25 miles west of Myrtle Beach. Even though Florence  has  been downgraded to a tropical storm, the torrential rains, flooding and power outages will continue for days.  Here... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
September 15, 2018 at 8:00 pm
• Leave a comment
Advertisement:

Storms of August 28

August 28, 2018–Thunderstorms are moving through the Chicago area this afternoon and evening. Still, the cicadas are singing in the rain. Here’s what was happening on this day in weather history– August 28, 2017–Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey is the second most damaging storm, after Hurricane Katrina, to hit the mainland United States.  Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25, 2017 as... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
August 28, 2018 at 7:53 pm
• 2 comments

Hurricane Season---August 2018

It should be a quiet 5-day period in the Atlantic basin with no tropical cyclones expected. You can always catch the latest outlook at https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/mN1HqBPeYs — NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) August 20, 2018 What a difference a year makes! In June, NOAA had forecast an active hurricane season for 2018. This was not good... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
August 20, 2018 at 1:00 pm
• 2 comments

Tom Skilling--40 years of weather

If you live in the Chicago area, you know who Tom Skilling is. He is the Chief Meteorologist at WGN-TV, and this week they celebrated his 40th anniversary there. Congratulations, Mr. Skilling! Weather forecasting has come a long way in 40 years, and Tom has been at the forefront of these advancements in radar and... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
August 10, 2018 at 2:36 pm
• 2 comments
Advertisement:

How you can see the longest lunar eclipse of the century

How you can see the longest lunar eclipse of the century
Today, July 27 will be a full moon, a blood moon, and the longest lunar eclipse of this century! No, the eclipse won’t be visible in Chicago, or North America, but this doesn’t mean that we can’t see it here.  Thanks to the wonders of the internet, there are several places that will be streaming the... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
July 27, 2018 at 11:33 am
• 2 comments