An excessive heat warning remains in effect for the Chicago area through 8 p.m. Wednesday, and experts are advising residents to keep a close eye on their loved ones and neighbors during the scorching-hot temperatures. NBC 5’s Natalie Martinez has the story.
A heat wave that has gripped the Chicago area has helped to break a record that stood for more than a quarter of a century, as O’Hare International Airport is seeing the mercury soar.
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature at O’Hare has now hit at 96 degrees on Wednesday, breaking a heat record that was set back in 1994.
The temperature could still potentially climb upward, with Chicago hitting its first daily temperature record of 2022 and setting a new mark for the first time since Dec. 16, 2021, when the high temperature hit 66 degrees at the official reporting station.
The heat wave helped push temperatures toward the triple-digits across the area, with Midway hitting 100 degrees on Tuesday. That marked the first time the airport had hit 100 degrees since July 2012, according to NWS officials.
As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Midway had hit 97 degrees, while Joliet had measured a reading of 95 degrees. Heat indices pushed toward and over 100 degrees throughout the area as a heat wave continued to dominate the forecast.
Relief is finally in sight as the weekend approaches, but highs could once again soar into the 90s by next week, according to forecast models.
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