Chicago's summertime weather [closed]

I'm curious about Chicago's summertime weather.

My understanding is that the Lake acts as a heat sink. It absorbs a lot of the sun's radiation meaning that the nearby land is cooler.

But I was wondering if easterly winds also come into play. If winds blowing from the east pass over Lake Michigan, are they cooled down?

What about winds coming from the west? If Chicago gets wind from the west/north-west during the summer, shouldn't the winds be as hot as the air?

Obviously this is not the case, since the only breeze I have felt during the summer is a cool breeze. So, what cools down wind coming from the west? (If we get winds from the west in the summer.)

Lot of questions here, and some rambling. I'd appreciate it someone could confirm/debunk my suspicions, as well as answer my questions.

Best Answer

My new favourite weather site, WeatherSpark, has as one of its features an Averages page, such as this one for Chicago. The averges page gives a distribution of values for various weather metrics, over a year. The one relevant to this question would I think be Dew Point:

Dew point is often a better measure of how comfortable a person will find the weather than relative humidity because it more directly relates to whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid.

For Chicago, between early July and late August the daily dew point maximum will typically be in the 'muggy' range.

There's also a Wind Direction section which suggests that in summer the wind is from a westerly direction more often than not, but not dramatically so.

Disclaimer: I have never been to Chicago.

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Is Chicago too hot in summer?

The warm season lasts for 3.6 months, from June 3 to September 20, with an average daily high temperature above 73\xb0F. The hottest month of the year in Chicago is July, with an average high of 82\xb0F and low of 70\xb0F.

Is Chicago too hot in July?

July is usually the hottest month in Chicago in terms of temperature and the weather might be very hot and humid. July is a busy month with visitors in Chicago with a lot of events and festivals going on including celebrations for the 4th of July.

Why is Chicago so hot in the summer?

Chicago's summers are hot because the Great Plains sizzle, and summer's prevailing southwest winds carry that hot air to the city. Infusions of humidity from the Gulf of Mexico and moisture released from plants guarantee a humid summer as well.

Is Chicago cold in the summer?

Chicago lies midway between the Continental Divide and the Atlantic Ocean, and is 900 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. Chicago's climate is typically continental with cold winters, warm summers, and frequent short fluctuations in temperature, humidity, cloudiness, and wind direction.

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