CHICAGO — The city's not getting a white Christmas, but it is getting the next-best thing: a really warm one.
This week will feature higher-than-average temperatures every day, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Paul Walker.
Monday will "be up around 50," Tuesday will hit about 44 degrees and the week will peak with an expected high of 59 degrees on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are expected to hit about 45 degrees.
For reference, the temperature is usually around 33 degrees, Walker said.
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The whole month has been about 10.8 degrees warmer than the average December in Chicago. If Wednesday gets hotter, it could become the warmest Dec. 23 ever recorded, beating out 1942's record of 62 degrees, Walker said.
"It's pretty mild," Walker said. "It's a nice break from the extreme cold we've had."
The city shouldn't expect particularly cold temperatures anytime soon, Walker said: Chicago will "continue to be above normal, temperature-wise," until late January, when temperatures could fall and the weather is expected to get closer to normal.
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And if you were hoping to go sledding, you better plan a vacation.
"If you're looking for snow, you're gonna have to go pretty far ... out west," Walker said. "Out in the Rockies, out in the Cascades, so that's the place to go for the snow. People should enjoy the month, break in the weather.
"There is going to be some winter coming along, [but] it's not until the tail end of winter."
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