A heat wave is bringing staggering temperatures to the Chicago area, but will it challenge for the throne as the hottest day in recorded history?
It doesn’t appear so, according to the NBC 5 Storm Team. Highs are expected to reach into the upper-90s on both Wednesday and Thursday, and heat indices have already jumped above 115 degrees in many locations on Wednesday.
The high temperature could potentially break the record for Aug. 23, with the mercury hitting 97 degrees in 1947, according to the National Weather Service.
So what is the hottest recorded temperature in Chicago history?
According to the National Weather Service, the warmest official high temperature recorded in the city came on July 24, 1934, when the high was clocked at 105 degrees.
Several other days have come close, most recently in 1995, when the high temperature reached 104 degrees on July 13 in the midst of a heat wave that claimed the lives of more than 700 Chicagoans.
The 104-degree mark was also reached on June 20, 1988.
Local
In all, Chicago has officially recorded 65 instances of high temperatures reaching 100 degrees or more.
It isn’t clear whether O’Hare will hit that mark on Wednesday, but the temperature just before noon had risen to 96 degrees, just shy of the daily record, according to NWS officials.
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