Chicago may break a record for high temperatures on Monday as the city experiences an unusually warm stretch for February. The National Weather Service predicts that Monday’s high could reach 64 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 58 degrees set in 1921.
The forecast indicates that the mild weather will continue through the week, with Tuesday expected to reach about 59 degrees and Wednesday potentially climbing to 66 degrees. Thursday is forecasted to have a high near 59 degrees, although areas closer to Lake Michigan may experience cooler conditions.
Despite these warmer days, records for daily high temperatures from Tuesday through Thursday are not likely to be broken. Those marks were set during an exceptionally warm period in February 2017, when temperatures nearly reached 70 degrees.
Meteorologist Bill Snyder of WGN-TV noted that this mid-February warmup follows the coldest start to winter in Chicago in more than a decade. From January 17 to February 5, temperatures stayed below freezing—a streak of 20 consecutive days. That run ended on February 6, though temperatures only slightly exceeded freezing.
Snyder also highlighted that this recent subfreezing streak was the longest since a similar period in 2007, when Chicago experienced 22 straight days below freezing. The city’s longest such stretch was recorded at 43 days from late December 1976 into February 1977.
Last week marked the beginning of a thaw for Chicago, and forecasts suggest that trend will continue this week. However, windy conditions and possible rain mid-week could temper how warm it feels outdoors. There is also a chance that overnight temperatures could fall below freezing again after Thursday.
