If you awoke early Tuesday and wondered why your radiators were cold or you couldn’t hear the roar of the furnace, you probably don’t need to call a repairman.
It was unusually warm before dawn, with temperatures reaching 51 degrees at O’Hare Airport and up to 50 degrees at Midway Airport, according to the National Weather Service. The normal high at this time of year is only a notch above freezing — or 33 degrees. The record high is 59 degrees, set in 1925.
“This winter, we have found ourselves on the warm side of systems more often than usual, which helps explain why we’ve seen relatively less snow than normal,” said Brett Borchardt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville.
The balmy weather is expected to continue this week, with highs in the mid- to upper-40s and steady rain forecast to arrive Wednesday night and continue into Thursday, Borchardt said. There may even be a rumble or two of thunder, he said.
For this winter season, the Chicago area is about 9 inches below normal, Borchardt said.
