Chicago Winter One Of Warmest Ever, Flurries On The Way (VIDEO)

What a difference a year can make: Last February, Chicago was reeling from the 20-inch-plus blizzard that blasted the city with winds up to 70 mph and cost the city $37.3 million to clean up. And this year, the city is having one of the warmest winters in recent history.

As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Chicago is experiencing its warmest winter in 80 years. As for snowfall, only 13.9 inches have fallen this winter -- well below the average (21.4 inches), though still far more than the record low (5.7 inches).

Temperatures in Chicago have yet to dip below zero degrees, which is very rare for the city, Tom Skilling notes on the Chicago Weather Center blog.

According to the Associated Press, Illinois' winter has been the sixth warmest statewide since 1895. In January, the average temperature statewide was 31.4 degrees and some parts of the state -- Belleville, Kaskaskia and Cairo -- registered temperatures as high as 69 degrees.

The warmer weather is not only impacting Chicago's winter. According to the Sun-Times, January was the third-least snowy in the continental United States since 1967.

But winter is, indeed, not over. As Fox Chicago reports, a cold swing is expected to bring some light snowfall into the area Tuesday with temperatures in the 30s, much more seasonally appropriate than the warmth recorded last week.

More snow is possible Friday in the area, according to Skilling.

WATCH Tuesday's weather forecast in Chicago:

2/7: A Little Snow Coming Our Way: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Comments

[KIVPossum]

05:30 AM on 02/08/2012

Funny -
get a cold europe story and the climate change deniers come out by the thousands
get a warm winter story and the climate change deniers hide.

[chicgogo]

04:41 PM on 02/07/2012

This winter is a dream and more like what I was used to before I moved from more temperate climes to Chicago 15 years ago. Every year I have cursed the supposed "average high for this time of year" because I couldn't understand how it was an average when temps were consistently below it and rarely if ever rose above all winter--every winter for 15 years. For once the highs have been higher than average. I hate the cold, and yes, native Chicagoans, 40 degrees is still cold. Now if we can have a real live spring and not the customary blustery and chilly temps in May and June, I'll be one happy camper. I've grown to accept winter, it's the spring that isn't that really makes me want to move.

[PalaceOfWisdom]

11:53 AM on 02/07/2012

It has been amusing watching local anchors trying to fill the void as they are left unable to scare us with bad forecasts. I've always said Chicago weather balances itself out, and this winter is balancing out the last one.