Now that the worst September heat wave in Kane County history is over, there’s only the Johnny Carson question left to answer:

How bad was it?

According to the National Weather Service Chicago, it was so bad …

• It was the only occurrence on record of seven consecutive 90-degree days entirely within September.
• It was only the 27th overall stretch of seven straight 90-degree days in Kane County … ever.
• All seven days of the heat wave were 92 degrees or above. And it’s only the second time that’s happened in the past 50 years.

The hard truth is that late September has never seen this kind of heat.

NWS-Chicago records date back to 1871. Here’s what the numbers look like for the period from Wednesday, Sept. 20, to Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017:

According to the NWS, the latest 90+ degree reading on record was on Oct 6, 1963, when it got up to 94 degrees.

The latest 95+ degree reading on record was 99 degrees on Sept 29, 1953.

The previous latest streak of four days in a row of 92 degrees was Sept 16-19, 1955. In fact, this year`s streak of seven days in a row with highs of 92+ is only the secondnd time in the past 50 years that Chicago has seen such a stretch of heat. The other time was during the heart of summer in the infamously hot and dry summer of 1988 (July 27-Aug. 4).

Saturday’s (Oct. 23, 2017) high temperature of 95 degrees tied for the hottest day of 2017.

This sets a record for the latest in the year that the hottest temperature of the year was recorded in Chicago. Previously, the latest in the year that the annual high temperature occurred was Sept 14 in 1893, 1915, and 1927.

The good news is, it’s cooler now, and that will last through Friday.

And the bad news … ?

The NWS Chicago says another heat wave could be on the way.

SOURCE: National Weather Service Chicago