Summers in Chicago have warmed by 1.7 degrees since 1990. That might not sound like a lot, but “that can make extreme heat days more common and more severe when they do come,” said David Yeomans, a CBS Chicago meteorologist.
“Temperatures are warming across all seasons in Chicago,” Yeomans said. “There will be natural ups and downs from one summer to the next, and not every single summer is going to be hotter than the last, but the overall trend is really clear.”
Mary Paskell, 65, has noticed the difference. She spends two to three days a week on the golf course. Over the last few summers, she’s noticed scorched grass along the fairways and has opted for later tee times, when the sun has started to set.
“You don’t stop playing,” Paskell said. “You just grin and bear it.”
Older adults are especially vulnerable to rising temperatures, said Dr. Stacie Levine, chief of geriatrics at University of Chicago Medicine.
Several factors put older adults at a higher risk for heat-related illnesses, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Foremost among them is a heightened susceptibility to dehydration because of thinning skin, loss of function in the sweat glands and a blunted sense of thirst.
That’s why Levine stresses the importance of staying hydrated to her patients and recommends that they drink water before they feel thirsty.
“Stay ahead of it,” Levine said. Dehydration can easily escalate, she said, causing dizziness, which can lead to falls, and confusion, which can often result in an ER visit.
It also contributes to heat exhaustion, which can progress to heat stroke, a potentially life-threatening condition where the body loses its ability to regulate temperature. Signs of heat stroke include confusion and slurred speech; loss of consciousness; hot, dry skin or profuse sweating; seizures; and a very high body temperature.
“Heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer nationwide,” Yeomans said. “People think it’s hurricanes or lightning or tornadoes, but heat on average kills more people than all of those events combined.”
Paskell, who has lived in Chicago since 1985, said she usually avoids the golf course between 11a.m. and 3 p.m. during the summer. But she noted that hot spells are also an issue in her Lake View condo building, especially at the start of the season. Like many large buildings in the city, hers has a so-called “two-pipe” system, which provides heating and cooling through the same pipe network. It can take a day or more to switch over from one to the other.
“When the weather becomes unpredictable, you’re left without the ability to get a breeze or AC going,” Paskell said.
In May 2022, three women — ages 68, 72 and 76 — died in their apartments at a senior living facility in Rogers Park during a heatwave. A facilities manager said at the time that the building’s cooling had not yet been turned on in an attempt to comply with Chicago’s heat ordinance, which requires landlords to supply heat to units from Sept. 15 through June 1. The temperature in the building that week reportedly topped 90 degrees before the air conditioning was turned on.
Paskell said the ordinance also becomes a problem at the end of the season as temperatures stay warmer later into the fall.
“It just always seems like the weather is on the wrong side of the mandate,” said Paskell.
In response to the Rogers Park deaths, Chicago’s City Council passed a cooling ordinance in 2022 that requires high-rise buildings like Paskell’s and those that operate as “housing for older persons” to provide air conditioning in indoor common spaces, including meeting and party rooms and fitness centers, when it’s 80 degrees or more outside. The buildings had until May 1 to install all required equipment.
The Department of Family and Support Services operates six cooling centers throughout the city, and it said residents can escape the heat at public libraries and Chicago Park District field houses during their normal hours of operation. The rest of the time, it’s on all of us to keep ourselves and each other safe.
“When the temperatures climb to extreme levels, it is important to check on relatives, neighbors, seniors and our vulnerable population,” a representative from the department said, adding that if you’re concerned about a neighbor, you can request a well-being check by calling 311.
Residents also should call 311 if they have any other questions about cooling center hours or locations, including which centers are open after hours.
