Record high temperatures are expected in the Chicago area on Tuesday as unseasonably warm weather continues into Wednesday — but trick-or-treaters may have to bundle up on Thursday.
The projected high for Tuesday is 81 or 82 degrees, which would break the record high of 78 degrees for Oct. 29 set in 1999, according to Lee Carlaw, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Temperatures aren’t expected to drop much Tuesday night and Wednesday is expected to be just as warm, though it may not break the record high of 85 degrees set in 1950, according to Carlaw.
Wind gusts of 40 to 45 mph are expected during the unseasonably warm stretch and rain showers are forecast to arrive with a cold front Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
“The good news is that any rain and storms coming with the front Wednesday night and Thursday morning should be clearing out of here during the afternoon on Thursday and into the evening,” Carlaw said. “So we’ve got dry conditions for basically peak trick-or-treating time.”
The high on Halloween is expected to be in the low 60s with temperatures dipping into the 40s during the evening hours, according to the weather service.
“Obviously temperatures are different for everybody, but if that’s chilly for some people, obviously plan on kind of bundling up,” Carlaw said. “It will be getting noticeably cooler than it has been in the last few days.”
Carlaw said the warmer-than-usual temperatures are not unusual this time of year and anticipates something similar happening next week.
“This is the time of year [where] we see rapid day-to-day and week-to-week changes,” Carlaw said. “This tends to be a time where we can see some pretty active patterns and strong storm systems.”