Springlike January Soon To Come To An End
UPDATED 01/10/12 12:07 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The calendar says Jan. 10, but it certainly doesn't feel like it.
But that will be changing soon enough.
CBS 2 Meteorologist Megan Glaros says on Tuesday, the high is forecast at a pleasant 55 degrees. The record for the date is not much higher than that -- the temperature hit 60 degrees on this day in 1975.
The overnight low Tuesday night still above freezing at 37. On Wednesday, the trend will continue, with mostly clear skies and 58.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's John Cody reports
Podcast
But come Wednesday evening, that will all change. Snow will begin to fall, and by the end of the day Thursday, it will likely pile up to 3 inches or more. Some areas close to the Wisconsin state line could see up to 6 inches.
Winter arrives for real Thursday in terms of the temperature. The high is only 28 degrees, with an overnight low of 14. On Friday, the high is an arctic 22.
Wintry conditions with highs in the 20s will remain through the weekend and beyond.
But for now, CBS 2's Susanna Song reports at this time of year, snow would be in plain sight on the jogging path along Lake Shore Drive, and snow would also blanket the icy crackle pattern that usually defines the lake at this time of year.
But instead, the ground is dry, and as of Tuesday, we have only had 1.9 inches of snow.
In Daley Plaza Wednesday, the city's Christmas tree was coming down, on the road to meeting its demise as mulch. WBBM Newsradio's John Cody reports some people were actually lamenting the lack of snow.
One man, Byron, said he missed the snow – a little.
"I don't want a real deep blanket. I just want it to come, breeze in, and breeze out – just like the seasons, come and go," he said.
A woman, Svetlana, has some aesthetic objections to a snow free season.
"It doesn't look good with no snow, but people say it's better for driving – you don't have to clean snow," she said. "But I miss the snow. I think the snow at New Year's and Christmas looks much better."
But for Amanda, with three kids back home, bare pavement just cuts down on the hassle.
"Clean their boots, you've got to change their socks, strip them completely down – scarf, gloves, hats, and then redress them again and hope you don't have to go anywhere," she said.
On Chicago golf courses, tee-time bookings were in high demand Monday.
"It's beautiful. It's better than sitting in the office," said golfer Igor Presman.
But some on the Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course along the north lakefront were cautious.
"The way Illinois weather goes, once it starts getting like this, the next thing you know there's going to be a blizzard," one man said.
Just a few weeks shy of a year ago, Chicago was seeing one of its worst blizzards ever. A total of 21.2 inches fell on Feb. 1 and 2.
Back in November, more than one source forecast a horrible winter this year.
"Lots and lots of storms," Farmers Almanac editor Phil Geiger said in November. "It's going to start in December, and it's just going to keep going through the month of March."
A month earlier, AccuWeather had a similarly dire forecast. The agency said 50 to 58 inches of snow would fall into total, and temperatures would be 2 to 3 degrees below normal.
"People in Chicago are going to want to move after this winter," AccuWeather long-range meteorologist Josh Nagelberg says on the agency's Web site.
It was expected that this year's La Nina would bring cooler temps in the Pacific and lead to a harsher winter in Chicago.
But so far, no such thing has happened. Rather, the unseasonably warm temperatures have led to the 15th warmest December on record in Chicago.
"It is awesome," one man told CBS 2's Pamela Jones Monday. "I've never seen a winter like this before."
So far, crews have used only 10 to 20 percent of the road salt normally needed in Chicago during the winter.
"We have a capacity of approximately 150,000 tons," said Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Guy Tridgell. "The nice thing about salt is that it doesn't spoil."
And winter accessories are not flying off shelves like years before.
"All of those products are not selling at the same level they would be selling if we had a lot of cold weather," Herb Nolan of Gordon's Ace Hardware said.
So enjoy it while it lasts, because on Thursday, old man winter will rear his ugly head in a big way.
