In the wake of Thursday evening's strong cold front passage, Friday's high temperature of 51 degrees at Midway Airport was 26 degrees lower than Thursday's 77-degree high. The last time a similar day-to-day drop in October high temperatures occurred at that location was 15 years ago — Oct. 13-14, 1997 when readings fell from 74 to 48.
Sandy's effects
With Hurricane Sandy moving north along the East Coast and then turning inland, acting as a blocking mechanism, a chilly high pressure system of Canadian origin will stall over the Mississippi Valley and western Midwest for several days — sustaining a cold northerly flow over the Chicago area through much of next week. This will bring the city its first sub-50-degree highs of the fall season Saturday.
