2008: "Pneumonia Front" causes big temperature drops in Chicago

2008: "Pneumonia Front" causes big temperature drops in Chicago

Author: AccuWeather May 26, 2022 Duration: 1:59
The term Pneumonia front, first coined by Milwaukee Weather Bureau Office in the 1960s,  is used to describe a rare meteorological phenomenon observed on the western Lake Michigan shoreline during the warm season. These fronts are defined as lake-modified small scale cold fronts that result in one-hour temperature drops of 16 °F or greater.  They do not necessarily have to be large scale, cold fronts to bring weather changes to an entire region. Very often in the spring to early summer the temperature difference between the cold lake waters and the warmer air over land can be as much as 35–40 °F . Under weak prevailing winds, an air current can often develop in the form of a lake breeze that moves from that water to the adjacent shoreline to as much as several miles inland. This "lake-breeze cold front" can drop temperature in places like Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay significantly as they cross the area. There has been many a spring day at Wrigley Field that surprises Cub fans who may have travelled from an inland location toward the shore to take in an afternoon game at Wrigley just a few blocks from the lakeshore, only to feel the effects of the "pneumonia front" as that cold blast of air comes through. On May 26, 2008 such a front caused temperatures to drop in Chicago from 72 at 10 pm to 55 an hour later. Winds had gone from light and westerly to northeasterly with gusts up to 40 mph along the lake. Other areas along the lake dropped from the mid 76 to the upper 40s

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Every day has a story written in the wind and rain, and This Date in Weather History uncovers those narratives. With AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Myers as your guide, this daily podcast connects the present to pivotal moments where weather dramatically altered the course of events. You might hear about a forgotten blizzard that stranded a city, a hurricane that redirected a war, or a simple shift in the breeze that allowed a historic discovery. It’s more than just a list of facts; it’s a look at how the atmosphere has been a relentless and fascinating character in the human drama. Each brief episode offers a specific, grounded tale, revealing how the climate has shaped cultures, economies, and personal lives in ways we often overlook. Tune in for a thoughtful blend of meteorology and historical context, delivered with the authority of AccuWeather. This podcast turns the calendar into a map of atmospheric intrigue, reminding us that the past is always present in the sky above.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

This Date in Weather History
Podcast Episodes
1921: Cloudburst causes 10' of flooding in Pueblo, CO [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:14
What started out as just another day in June in Colorado in 1921, rapidly turned into one that would never be forgotten in the town of Pueblo, Colorado. A cloudburst enveloped the town the afternoon of June 3, 1921. Duri…
1889: Flooding of the Potomac River [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12
On June 2, 1889, the same heavy rains caused that had helped cause massive flooding in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, overwhelmed the South Fork Dam several days before, hit the Washington, DC, area. Most of the roads in DC at…
1965: Tropical system causes 30k fatalities in Bangladesh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:44
The World Health Organization reports that nation of Bangladesh is especially vulnerable to tropical cyclones, known as hurricanes near the United States, because of its location at the triangular shaped head of the Bay…
1889: The Johnstown Flood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:06
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, lies hard against the Conemaugh River in its deep valley in the western part of the state. Founded in 1770, it grew quickly as the Civil War approached, fortunes were made in iron, coal and steel…
1879: The Real-life inspiration for "The Wizard of Oz" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:13
On May 30, 1879 the town of Irving, Kansas in the northeastern part of the state was a growing farm community with several hundred residents. Today, though Irving is a ghost town. On May 30, 1879, two tornados destroyed…
1914: Empress of Ireland and Storstad ships collide [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:08
From 1900 until 1914 almost 100,000 passengers in ocean liners, crossed the Atlantic to Canada, mainly from Great Britain. The main port of entry and embarkation to and from Canada was Quebec City, on the St Lawrence Riv…
1880: 1' of rain falls in less than 2 hours in Brackettville, TX [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:24
Brackettville, the county seat of Kinney County in Texas, is on U.S. Highway 90 twenty-two miles northeast of the Rio Grande and 125 miles west of San Antonio. It is named after Oscar Brackett, who established the first…
1987: A fisherman is struck and killed by lightning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:51
The number of people killed by lightning in recent years is a far cry from annual lightning deaths decades ago. In the 1940s, for instance, hundreds of people were killed each year by lightning. In 1943 alone, 432 people…
1986: Severe and destructive storm strikes Texas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26
Another Spring Day and another round of wild weather in the state of Texas. Severe weather is most prevalent in Texas in the Spring and May 24, 1986 was no different, severe thunderstorms blasted the area. Damage was hea…