Chicago Weather: Unseasonable Temperatures In the 60s Expected Tuesday

You call this winter?

Though one year ago the Chicago area was preparing for one of the largest snowstorms in the city's history -- which dumped over 20 inches of snow over a matter of just a few days -- the extremely unusual forecast Tuesday called for temperatures exceeding 60 degrees.

As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, the record high for the day in Chicago is 65 degrees, which was the mark the mercury hit on Jan. 31, 1989. Tuesday's warm, sunny weather will not fall far short -- and may even surpass -- that record.

As of the early morning commute, CBS Chicago reported that temperatures were already climbing into the mid- to upper 40s in the area, foreshadowing unseasonable conditions that will likely only be dampened when a cold front enters the area in the afternoon, likely bringing some rain along with it.

Temperatures, however, are expected to remain in the 40s through the rest of the work week, CBS reports.

Monday's 53 degree high fell only two degrees short of the all-time record in Chicago and was the ninth time a daytime reading has exceeded 50 degrees this winter, according to Tom Skilling's blog on the Chicago Weather Center. Only two other winters in the city's history have produced a higher number of 50-degree or higher days.

Meanwhile, Skilling continues, Tuesday's high is about 22 degrees warmer than normal and on par with the normal high temperature of April 2.