Wintry warmth? Mild weather spell across Chicago this week could break records

A taste of spring is in store for Chicago as the area flirts with record high temperatures later this week.

Daily highs at O’Hare Airport are expected to remain well above the monthly average high of 36 degrees through at least Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Tuesday and Wednesday’s highs should be in the mid- to upper 40s, and the forecast calls for warmer weather as the weekend nears, with temperatures climbing into the 50s, the weather service said.

Thursday’s forecast calls for a high of around 57 degrees, but there’s a chance it could climb higher, pushing it closer to the daily record high for Feb. 8 of 62 degrees, which was set in 1925, according to the weather service.

There’s a greater possibility of record-breaking temps on Friday, when the high is again expected to be around 57 degrees. That would place it just past the record high for Feb. 9 of 56 degrees, a mark that was set in 1886, the weather service said.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

”If we’re going to break the record high, probably the 9th is the easiest one from a forecast standpoint,” NWS meteorologist Lee Carlaw said.

Carlaw said the warmest spikes on Thursday and Friday will be due in part to warm, moist air being drawn up across Illinois from the South on those days.

But the warmer weather won’t necessarily mean more sun, as mostly cloudy conditions are expected until Friday.

Carlaw said that if the clouds appear slightly darker during the day, it will be because the layer of clouds above the city may be slightly thicker than normal, allowing less light to filter through.

More rays of sunlight might poke through Friday as partly sunny conditions develop following a chance for rain in the morning, the weather service said. Rain is also in the forecast for Thursday night.

Temperatures are expected to fall back into the mid 40s Saturday.