Heat wave draws crowds to Chicago beaches as temperatures jump into the 90s

People flocked to the beaches to escape the heat on Tuesday.

But it was hot there, too.

Montrose Beach was one popular place.

Local perspective:

Crystal Burns was carrying beach chairs and other supplies towards the sand as her children ran ahead of her. She said, "Oh, my God, it's so hot out here. I don't really know how to express it. It's unbearable. But the sooner we get in the water the better."

The oasis of Lake Michigan seemed like a burning distance for anyone walking from the parking lot to Montrose Beach on this scorcher of a day. But the water was beckoning and delivering relief.

Mia Anderson and her friends stayed in the water. She said, "The water is usually, like, kind of too cold to go in, like, on a normal day, and you're kind of in it for a second and then you get out. But today it was nice because we, like, stood in there forever. We were like playing volleyball in there. It was really nice."

Dig deeper:

Some people dove into cold drinks and fresh fruit snacks to stay hydrated.

The mid-90 degree temperatures came on uncomfortably strong this second day of a stretch of extreme heat.  

"Also like humidity. It could be a lot more humid," Rory Davis said. "Even if there's like a little bit, it's just like sweat suffocating. Yeah. Sweat city."

Crystal Burns knows hot. She said, "I'm a little loaded down, mom. I am loaded down there. Loaded down to as well. So the quickest I get there, the better. But it's so hot. Extremely hot. Unbearably hot."

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