Explainer, PAUL DAILEY

Recent shifts in the upper air pattern have Chicagoans primed for what could be the warmest Thanksgiving Day since the record 69 degrees back in 1966. But another much less publicized record has a better chance of being broken soon - Chicago's longest stretch of above normal sunshine chronicled in records dating back to 1893 could fall November 30th. Every month since October 2011, veteran weather observer Frank Wachowski has recorded above normal sunshine at Chicago's official observing site. Frank says the all-time record is 13 consecutive months from December 1935 through December 1936. So far with nearly two-thirds of this November in the books, we have received 60 percent of possible sunshine (normal is only 42 percent), so we are well on the way to a 14th consecutive month with above normal sunshine, and if so, a new record! There could be some mixed clouds and sun the next couple days, but this coming Wednesday and Thursday, when temperatures are forecast to warm into the 60s, there should be abundant sunshine. A cold front will probably bring back more cloudiness and much cooler - more November-like-weather beginning Friday.