Hot air straight from the Gulf of Mexico, with an unusual assist from the jet stream, routed the last remnants of Chicago’s chilly spring Monday, sending the thermometer to a record 88 degrees, with another balmy day Tuesday to follow.
Monday’s high, 30 degrees above normal for April 15, shattered the record of 84 degrees set in 1976. And it happened just 10 days after a snowfall. Cardigans gave way to tank tops, and trench coats were strictly an over-arm accessory.
“Holy smokes, instant summer,” said Chris Hosek, 40, of Chicago.
It was warm all day, and the record fell at 1:15 p.m. By 3 p.m., O’Hare International Airport had registered 88 degrees, the new official high.
As for the old record, “we sort of blew it away,” said Bill Nelson, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service.
The only other 80-degree April 15 on record here came in 1896.
But Tom Skilling, chief meteorologist for WGN-TV, warned against getting too comfortable.
Temperatures are likely to stay high until the end of the week, when a cold front is expected to bring strong winds similar to those that caused scaffolding to break at the John Hancock Center last month, an accident that killed three people, Skilling said.
“There is quite a downturn coming late this week, and it’s going to be quite a slap in the face,” he said.
Record highs also were recorded Monday in Wisconsin, as temperatures hit 90 or higher in several cities.
It was a day for sunscreen and sandals, sundaes and shady excuses. Digging barefoot in the sand on Oak Street Beach, Simeon Schmitt, a Chicago architect, was on “a sand castle building expedition” with Jill Zordan of Cambridge, Mass.
“It’s a very bad case of the flu I have,” Schmitt said, coughing lamely. “It might require another day off. It’s supposed to be warm tomorrow.”
Restaurants and cafes with outdoor tables were doing a brisk business Monday evening, with people stopping on their way home or heading out to enjoy the warm evening.
On the Near North Side at Cru Cafe & Wine Bar, 888 N. Wabash Ave., the interior was almost deserted, but about 50 people in spring or summer attire were seated at the tables outside.
Elizabeth Srail, 26, and Jennifer Berzansky, 28, both of Chicago, were toasting the warm weather over a glass of wine.
Srail said: “We wouldn’t have been out for drinks tonight if it wasn’t for the weather.”
Athletes came out of hibernation in droves.
Dan Johnson, a 43-year-old Schaumburg engineer, was one of many runners taking to the streets of the northwest suburb Monday afternoon. Training for a half-marathon with a run along State Parkway, he said the sunshine and temperate breeze had recharged his athletic spirit.
“Running in the winter, I feel terrible,” he said. “It’s cold and wet and uncomfortable. Now this is just so sweet that I felt I had to be out. I can feel my personality changing just by being outside in the sun.”
At an Oak Brook playground, Wilson Cook, 2, and his brother M.J., 1, ran around a jungle gym and scurried through plastic tubes and across small wooden bridges as their mother, Jeanna, watched. The kids seemed to be enjoying it, and so did their mother, but only to a degree.
“It’s a little too early for all of this,” Jeanna Cook said. “I like spring. Where is it? It seems like in Chicago we either get freezing temperatures or 85 degrees. I just want a nice 65-degree spring day.”
Skilling predicted the euphoria would end later in the week.
“When it turns colder they’re going to be madder than wet hornets,” Skilling said. “But the fact is that this is really pretty peculiar.”
But the peculiarity meant only a pleasant surprise for most people. Melissa Woicek, a carriage driver on North Michigan Avenue, was enjoying working outdoors, but she knew brisker weather would return.
“Fifty degrees still ain’t bad,” she said. “But 80 degrees could spoil you.”
