Hi Adam: We have been recording data as an official National Weather Service cooperative site since the early 1980's at Chicago Botanic Garden. You are correct, our proximity to Lake Michigan (a couple of miles to our east) does mitigate some of the more extreme temperatures IF the wind is out of the Northeast, East or Southeast. There also appears to be something of a heat island effect but it is not a pronounced as the city of Chicago experiences. The coldest temperature we recorded in January was minus 17 degrees F. The snowfall in the Chicago region has been really spotty this winter; up in Lake County where I live the snowfall has been heavier than reported at CBG. Boyce Tankersley Director of Living Plant Documentation Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 60022 tel: 847-835-6841 fax: 847-835-1635 email: btankers@chicagobotanic.org