Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Great Lakes Region - December 2017

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Great Lakes Region for September – November 2017.  Dated December 2017.

Across the Great Lakes basin, conditions were generally unseasonably warm. Several instances of record-breaking temperatures occurred. Chicago experienced seven consecutive days (September 20-26) with record-breaking warm temperatures up to 35°C (95°F). At the same time, several locations in southern Ontario reported heat-wave conditions with some locations experiencing humidex values reaching 40°C (104°F). These events marked the latest recorded heat wave for the season of this magnitude. Conversely, record cold temperatures were set from November 10-11 in many parts of southern Ontario, New York, and Pennsylvania. Most locations broke their previous record by several degrees.

NOAA’s Regional Climate Services Program created these Climate Outlooks to inform the public about recent climate impacts within their respective regions. Each regional report contains easy-to-understand language, and anyone can access them through the Drought Portal at https://www.drought.gov/drought/resources/reports.