Chicago weather: Record high likely as temps surge into the 60s

Chicago weather: Monday morning forecast

Fox Chicago Meteorologist Mike Caplan breaks down today's weather outlook.

CHICAGO - A record high is almost a certainty for the Chicago area today! 

There are some records in the book that are what I call "oddballs." These are records which, compared with surrounding days, are either much higher or much lower.

Record-breaking warmth

What we know:

Today’s record high is 58° set back in 1921. This is low-hanging fruit compared to records around this time of year. For example, the record high for February 15 is 69° and tomorrow’s record high is 67 degrees. Why today’s number should be 10° lower makes no sense, but I think it goes down. 

In fact, today will likely be the warmest day in more than three months. On Nov. 15 we had a high of 71 degrees. I think low-to-mid 60s are likely today with partly sunny skies. There will be patchy fog, especially in southern portions of our area this morning. The only thing that could interfere with us crushing the record today would be a thicker cloud deck, but that seems unlikely. It will be rather breezy with southwest winds gusting to more than 20 mph at times.

Tonight will be partly cloudy with lows in the upper 30s and once again a chance for some patchy fog late. 

What's next:

Tomorrow will not be quite as warm with highs ranging from the upper 40s far north and near the lake to the upper 50s well southwest of the city. 

There’s a chance of showers tomorrow night, especially over our northern counties. This would likely continue into Wednesday morning. After that, sunshine breaks out and temperatures are off to the races on Wednesday when the mid-60s look to be an easy mark. 

Thursday looks partly sunny and still mild with highs in the mid upper 50s. Thursday night into early Friday morning there can be a few more rain showers. 

The rest of Friday will be mostly cloudy and cooler, but still warmer than normal with highs in the mid 40s. It will be a bit colder over the weekend with partly to mostly cloudy skies both days and highs in the mid to upper 30s.