Record Highs

I took this photo today while I was out for a jog - that's right a jog. I did outside exercise on January 6th in Chicago, IL.

I believe we hit a high of 57 degrees. I witnessed with my own eyes people in tank tops and flip flops. While it wasn't actually THAT warm, it was euphoria inducingly beautiful out as well.

But was it that atypical for January here in the midwest?

According to my research (wikipedia) "The temperature in January averages about 29°F (-2°C) in the afternoon, and 14°F (-10°C) at night. Temperatures can be expected to drop below 0°F (-18°C) on about 15 nonconsecutive days throughout the winter season. On many occasions temperatures can go above 50* for a daytime high, and, although not frequent, temperatures in winter can surpass 50°F (10°C)."

And through google I learned that on this exact day in 2008 it reached 60°F!! That's a few months before I moved here, so I can neither confirm or deny this, but I can honestly say that today was a welcome reprieve, even if it has been a pretty mild winter so far.