Chicago area residents and tourists traded hot chocolate and snowball fights for ice cream and soccer games during an unseasonably warm Christmas Day Wednesday.
With temperatures peaking at 57 degrees, it was the city’s second-warmest Christmas since the National Weather Service started recording temperatures in 1871, a meteorologist with the agency said. The last time the winter holiday was warmer was in 1982 when temperatures hit 64-degrees.
Wednesday was also the first time since 1954 that Christmas in Chicago was warmer than Halloween, according to the weather service. This year, trick-or-treaters had to brave snow and temperatures with a high of just 33 degrees.
Many in the crowd who flocked to Millennium Park Wednesday left their jackets at home and were just wearing T-shirts. If it weren’t for the multi-colored lights wrapped around the park’s bare trees or winter coats tied around some waists, one might almost think it was spring.
“It’s strange weather, but I had to take full advantage of it,” 33-year-old Derek Anderson, of Rogers Park, said before taking a lick from his chocolate ice cream cone.
Dulce Morales, of San Antonio, Texas, seized the opportunity to play soccer with her cousins, who were in town from Mexico to celebrate Christmas.
Dressed in T-shirts and light sweaters, Morales and her cousins took turns kicking the ball back and forth in a field near Maggie Daley Park.
“When have we ever been able to play outdoor soccer in the middle of winter in Chicago?” said Morales, who used to live in the area. “The weather is a little concerning, but I’ll take it today.”
R. Mekka spent the afternoon with her three daughters and mother at the Maggie Daley Park ice skating ribbon. The group traveled here from Georgia in hopes of glimpsing snow and other chilly traits of a typical Chicago winter.
“I guess we brought the good weather in with us, because it’s a little bit warmer here than back home,” Mekka said.
But Mekka’s 7-year-old daughter Lena didn’t mind.
“We still get to go ice skating, which I love because it’s fast and fun,” Lena said. “It’s perfect out.”
The mild temperatures are likely to continue into Thursday with a high near 60 degrees before dropping to the lower 40s before the weekend, according to the weather service.