The Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower in the fog June 25. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Driving home from downtown Chicago recently, Jason Erkes looked up and noticed something missing — the city. It had disappeared in the fog.

“I posted on Facebook, ‘Where is the skyline?’” he said. “You could not see a single building.”

As president of Chicago Sport & Social Club, where he organizes beach volleyball along the lake, Erkes has seen players repeatedly running for cover in recent weeks, drenched by sudden downpours.

“The weather has sucked with an exclamation point,” he said. “This has been the worst season we can remember.”

The pattern represents the last vestiges of the past wicked winter — but forecasters say that’s about to change. This weekend will see hot, sticky, summer-like weather, though it may rain some more.

If you must blame something, blame the polar vortex. While no single factor determines the weather, meteorologists say that the warming of the Pacific Ocean last winter pushed warmer temperatures into the Arctic air mass. Like squeezing a balloon, that pressure caused a bulge in the jet stream that sent bone-chilling air into the Midwest.....Continue Reading

> via chicagotribune.com