Ben Burkel

Certified Broadcast Meteorologist & commercial airline Flight Dispatcher, Air Force veteran, Purdue grad, traveler, and sports fan. Forecasts are for Chicago!

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

I highly recommend seeing the movie Pressure as it was very well written explaining how valuable a weather forecast would be for D-Day!

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Stats are in for Meteorological Spring (Mar-May) as well as May.
April certainly left its mark with the above average precip!

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

@IDOT_Illinois New sign on ramp saying tough merge ahead isn't a fix. Maybe have N/B traffic forced in left lane and merge lane becomes the right lane? Please drive it ~~ safety issue still not resolved!
@SchaumburgIL
@CityofRM1
@meadowspolice

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

@IDOT_Illinois Exiting the ramp from I-90 west to Hwy 53 north frontage road has construction barriers that don't allow a merge. Major safety issue as don't have sufficient time to see traffic you'll merge with. Make merge more gradual?? @SchaumburgIL @CityofRM1 @meadowspolice

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

@IDOT_Illinois Exiting the ramp from I-90 west to Hwy 53 north frontage road has construction barriers that don't allow a merge. Major safety issue as don't have sufficient time to see traffic you'll merge with. Make merge more gradual?? @SchaumburgIL @CityofRM1 @meadowspolice

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

After being spoiled the previous three cold weather seasons (either relatively mild or lack of snow), this past meteorological Winter (Dec-Feb) was halfway closer to normal.

Still well below precip, but temps were very close to average.

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Meteorological Winter (Dec-Feb) is in the books!
MUCH cooler compared to last Winter, but we were fairly average.
Precip-wise...still way below normal with it being the 10th least snowiest on record. No complaints on my end!

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

We will see if the degreed meteorologists or the groundhog will be correct during the next 6 weeks... 😜

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Today was the first day our average high temp increased from the lowest (31°) of the year. Avg high now 32°, and avg low temp is still at its coldest of 18°.

However, we will be giving Thursday's record high of 55° a run for its money! Enjoy the defrosting day!

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

2024 was the warmest year on record in CHI & MKE!

Previous record was in 2012 (remember that week long stretch of low 80s in mid March around St Patty's?!?)

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

The historical probability for 1" of snow on the ground on Christmas around Chicagoland is roughly 35%. Waaaaay too early to even look at anything to see if we may have one.

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Great info-graphic from the NWS.

Well above average temps for meteorological Fall (Sep-Nov). Was pretty dry too.

Through Nov, 2024 has been the warmest year on record so far in CHI 😎

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Waaaay above average temps last month with below normal rainfall.

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Climate Prediction Center came out with the "meteorological winter" temp/precip forecast for Dec-Feb.
Wetter than average doesn't necessarily correlate to more snow. Individual storm tracks will make that determination.

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Meteorological Summer (June-Aug) is over and the observed temps & precip were fairly close to average for Chicagoland.

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Our average high & low temps have reached their highest levels for the year at 85 & 66 respectively. It's all downhill from here... 😬🤣

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Meteorological Spring (March-May) 2024 was one of the mildest on record throughout the Midwest with above average rainfall too.

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Meteorological Winter (Dec-Feb) is in the books and my gosh was it mild! 🙌

Remember just a decade ago we had back-to-back insanely cold Winters! 🥶

Some info-graphics from the NWS and a few that came up in my Memories feed to remind us on how bone-chilling it could be... 😳

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

For a frame of reference, our average high temp today is 40...and we're sailing past that the next couple days!
Should surpass the record high of 64 today and will flirt with the ALL TIME warmest February temp of 75 on Tuesday.

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

Phil hasn't been correct since pre-Covid, but the way this Winter season has gone so far (minus that one crazy cold week in JAN)...he may just be accurate for once!

[Ben Burkel @BenBurkel]

@WGNNews When do the @Skilling tributes begin this month? And which show will it be broadcast on...4, 5, 6, 9, or 10? Thanks and congrats Tom!