Spring doesn’t officially begin for more than three weeks, but it came early to Chicago last week, with temperatures hitting a pleasant 74 degrees Fahrenheit Tuesday afternoon. Spring then quickly turned to summer, with severe thunderstorms slamming the area Tuesday night, bringing hail and reported tornadoes. Then winter returned Wednesday morning, skipping fall, as the mercury plunged into the 20s, with icy winds and snow flurries.
Just a totally normal 24 hours in February.
Actually, the weather around the world has been anything but normal this winter. More to the point, it has forced us to reconsider what “normal” even means anymore when global warming is making the climate increasingly chaotic.
“If the climate were changing more slowly, it would be harder to see,” Berkeley Earth climate scientist Zeke Hausfather said. “But it’s hard to ignore a 70-degree day in February.”
This January was the world’s warmest since at least 1850, and this February is on track to follow suit, according to Hausfather. Global average sea surface temperature blew away the record for the hottest January ever and came close to being the hottest month ever, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.