Temperatures were near 50 degrees in some parts of the Chicago area on Dec. 26, 2011, bringing plenty of joggers, cyclists and even fishermen to the lakefront to enjoy the unusually warm winter weather. (Credit: CBS)
CHICAGO (CBS) – It’s the day after Christmas, but it seems like someone forgot to tell Old Man Winter, because neither snow nor temperatures see to be falling. He must have hit the snooze button when winter officially started a few days ago, because the weather has been more like autumn.
CBS 2′s Mai Martinez has a look at how Chicagoans have been enjoying our mild temperatures.
Lots of people were ice skating at the rink at Millennium Park on Monday, just like they do every winter. The big difference, though, was many of them were not wearing heavy winter coats that are typical for this time of year.
They weren’t the only ones enjoying this winter weather reprieve.
It might be the day after Christmas, but with the sun shining and temperatures close to 50, it sure felt a lot more like autumn and Chicagoans were taking advantage of it.
At Montrose Harbor, fishermen were flocking to the water.
“This is very nice. I mean, a half inch of snow for December? You can’t beat that,” Matt Stefan said.
“It’s a beautiful day. You know, it no matter if you are catching fish or not. I come and be happy over here,” Argelio Matos said.
The fishermen didn’t catch anything while CBS 2 was there, but a group of bird enthusiasts certainly did; spotting a snowy owl basking in the sun at the end of a dock.
“He’s loving it. This is Florida for him, I think,” Nancy Depodesta said.
The owl wasn’t the only creature enjoying the sun. Dozens of four-legged friends and their owners took to the beach for a rare December outing.
“As soon as I saw the forecast I knew it was a dog beach kind of day,” Vicki Driver said.
“He would spend every day here all winter long if it was always like this,” Evan Singer said, wearing just a sweater and light jacket as he walked his dog along the lakefront path.
Also rare for December: a day of golfing. But for the several golfers, including the Kozlowski family, it was their second trip to the golf course in two days.
“Today we’re going to try it again. You only get to do this once in a lifetime,” Mark Kozlowski said.
“It’s nice, because we usually have a lot of snow,” 9-year-old Miles Kozlowski said.
But his 7-year-old sister, Amelia, said she prefers the snow, “because there’s mostly sledding, ice skating, fun going around, mostly friends.”
She was one of the very few people who said she was actually missing the snowy weather. But, knowing Chicago winters, she will likely get plenty of time to do all the sledding and ice skating she wants soon enough.
