After weeks of gray skies, early flurries and vindictive cold, Chicago is about to pull a holiday plot twist: Christmas Day is shaping up to be unseasonably warm, potentially one of the mildest the city has seen in decades.
According to the latest forecasts from ABC7 and AccuWeather, temperatures on Christmas Day are expected to climb into the low 50s, with scattered drizzle and fog replacing snowbanks. (That puts December 25 well above Chicago’s historical average high of around 35 degrees.)
The warm-up is already underway. After a mild day today with highs in the low 40s, temperatures are forecast to hover in the mid-40s through Tuesday and Wednesday. By Thursday, the real shift arrives: Christmas Day is expected to top out around 51 degrees, with periods of light rain rather than snow. A white Christmas, by official standards, is off the table.
If that number holds, it would place this year among Chicago’s warmest Christmas Days on record. While the city has seen mild holidays before, most notably in the 1980s and late 1990s, temperatures above 50 degrees are a rarity for late December.
The warmth won’t go away immediately after the tree comes down, either. Friday should remain mild, with highs near 48 degrees and mostly cloudy skies, followed by a partly cloudy Saturday in the upper 40s. On Sunday, winter will reassert itself, as temperatures di back into the upper 30s.
For most, the forecast should land somewhere between relief and disbelief. Outdoor holiday plans suddenly feel more feasible, lakefront walks won’t require thermal face gear and travel conditions look relatively calm, aside from wet roads and reduced visibility during foggy periods.
Of course, this is Chicago: colder air is expected to return heading into the final days of the year, reminding everyone that a warm Christmas doesn’t mean winter has given up. But for one day at least, the Windy City is trading snowflakes for raincoats.