It was no White Christmas in Chicago, but warm morning made it merry and bright
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The second-warmest Christmas Day on record in Chicago had many people choosing to spend the holiday outdoors.
The weather outside wasn't exactly frightful this Christmas in Chicago.
"I think it's actually cooler in Texas right now back home. So we would've never imagined that," said Weston Parcell as he visited Chicago for the holidays.
With the temperature reaching a high of 59°, you could even say it was a scorcher of sorts compared to the frigid temps of Christmas past. Last year, the Christmas temperature never got above the teens in Chicago.
For Nora Buck, the mild weather was an open invitation to leave the heavy coat at home and hit the pavement with her daughter.
"I would call it pleasant, very nice. It's amazing," she said.
At Millennium Park, visitors laced on the skating ring, up but opted to button down.
"I was actually thinking of maybe doing some snow activities, but it's impossible right now," said Evgeny Tarasov, while visiting from Connecticut.
"I was expecting cold, snow, ice, everything," said Reina Hernandez, of Cicero. "It's such nice weather."
Meantime, vendors started tearing down Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza, after it wrapped up its annual holiday run on Sunday. Unlike years past, workers didn't have to battle bitter cold while they started taking down the decorations and wooden cabins.
Even the Morton Arboretum in Lisle opened its trails on this Christmas Day. Visitors got some prime time with Mother Nature
And along Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, there was no shortage of foot traffic and smiles as street musician "M on Bass" soaked it all in; the weather a huge factor on who strolled on by.
"It doesn't matter how good you are, it gets too go cold to go in their pockets, so this is a blessing," he said.
Despite it being an unseasonably mild Christmas, it wasn't quite a record-breaker, but was the second warmest on record for Chicago.
When it comes to the warmest Christmas ever in Chicago, 1982 holds the record, when the mercury hit a comfortable 64°.
The last time it got this mild was just two years ago, in 2021, when it hit 55°. At that time, "M on Bass" was taking it all with a grain of salt. He still is.
"It looks like through New Year's Eve, it's going to be mild weather, right? Maybe not this weather, but mild weather," he said. "Does that mean we're going to get like 16 inches? Because you know, because that can happen too."
Time will tell.
If you're wondering, the coldest Christmas Day on record in Chicago came exactly a year after the warmest. On Christmas Day in 1983 – 40 years ago – the low was 17 below zero. The high didn't even crack zero – topping out at -5°.