Hottest Summer On Record For Chicago

(3:30PM - 9/1/2020) Summer 2020 ended up as the hottest summer on record for Chicago, with an average temperature of 76.7 degrees. Summer is considered June 1st - August 31st. The average temperature takes into account high and low temperatures from each summer month (June/July/August), which is averaged out to get the overall summer average temperature.

​In addition to the summer record...June 2020 finished tied for the 6th warmest June on record, July 2020 finished as the 4th warmest July on record, and August 2020 finished tied for the 6th warmest August on record. There were 30 days which featured a high temperature of 90 degrees of higher (31 total this year), with the highest temperature of the summer being 97 degrees on August 24th. While there were many hot days, including a few heat waves, extreme heat was fairly limited overall...with the record for this summer being mostly attributed to consistently warm temperatures, both day and night. Looking into a comparison of this summer compared to the other summers on the top 5 list...Most of the other summers featured more extreme heat, including days with temperatures into the 100's. What occurred this summer shows that a summer with consistent warmth and some heat can be just as significant statistically as a summer that has more significant bouts of extreme heat.

(Side note: Some will notice that 1988 did not feature a top 5 hottest summer. Summer 1988 featured several bouts of extreme heat, including numerous days with high temperatures into the 100's. However, there were also several bouts of cooler (Even below average) temperatures throughout the summer. Additionally, a significant drought was in place, with moisture and high humidity lacking. This aided in cool overnight low temperatures, well below average at times, which skewed the overall average summer temperature much lower than it could have been.

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