Tuesday's Crisp Weather A Chilly Surprise After Monday's Summery Temps

CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's a harsh reality for some of us. With Oct. 1 knocking on our door, fall and a possibly frigid winter loom ahead.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli has more on Tuesday's preview of the chilly weather ahead for the Chicago area.

The mercury was only at about 50 degrees in Chicago at 10 a.m., and while temperatures should bounce back into the 70s on Wednesday and Thursday, cooler autumn weather is certain to take hold soon enough.

On Sunnyside Avenue in Schiller Park, the sun was nowhere to be seen Tuesday morning. It was hidden behind a shroud of clouds that rode in on a cold front that drove out Monday's glorious temps.

"I returned from Wisconsin, and it changed overnight there too. It was 83 degrees when we left, and by the time we'd come here it was 85, and then today is just a complete surprise," Kenneth Michaels said. "It's just like we had two days ago in Wisconsin, and got dropped down to the rainy and rotten weather."

He said he's prepared for the thermal drop, because he's had decades to acclimate to Mother Nature's Midwestern whims.

"It's Illinois," he said.

Ken Seminakore said he and his German Shepherd Luke are big fans of fall, but when forced to choose, he'd prefer the more summery 80s that warmed Chicago on Monday.

At the Irving Park Canoe Landing, Tsvetana Palovska was pining for temperatures in the 70s, like in her homeland of Bulgaria.

"Bulgaria's a really warm country, so I like it," she said.

She and her friend Patritsiya Yankova weren't about to launch a canoe on Tuesday, but rather were just waiting for the bus on this chilly morning.

"I prefer yesterday," Yankova said.

Wednesday and Thursday should be significantly warmer, with highs in the low to mid 70s.