Move over windshield cleaning, frozen snot and trekking through snowy sidewalks, it’s finally time for shorts and short sleeves, grilling and fun at the lakefront.Well, maybe a quick grill — and for a couple days only.The start of this week is giving Chicago a short respite from a snowy and cold winter that featured a 20-day stretch of subfreezing temperatures — the longest in almost two decades — and several snowstorms.After a couple sunny and mild days over the weekend, the forecasted high of 61 degrees Monday would make it the warmest Feb. 16 in the city’s recorded history, with the previous record set in 1921 at 58 degrees, according to National Weather Service data. A bicyclist rides on Milwaukee Avenue on Feb. 16, 2026.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times “It seems like things are warming up nicely here, so we should be on track to break that today,” National Weather Service meteorologist Zachary Yack said Monday morning.Yack said the warm temperature is “well above normal” for this time of year. “Usually this time we’re sitting in the mid-30s,” he said.Chicago has trudged through the cold and snow since October after a few mild winters the past few years.The city exceeded the entire 2024-25 snowfall total by the end of December this season and has accumulated 32.1 inches to this point.And the 20 days from Jan. 17 to Feb. 6 when temperatures didn’t rise above freezing made for the longest such stretch in Chicago since 2007. Fishing in Humboldt Park on Feb. 16, 2026.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times After dipping to 47 degrees Tuesday, the high will be back to 62 on Wednesday, according to the NWS forecast. If the weather errs on the warmer side, however, there’s a scenario where Monday through Thursday could all hit the 60s. That would be the warmest few February days since 2017, when temps hit the high 60s and 70s for four days.Does this warm stretch indicate the cold and snow are behind us?“No, we just got locked into a warmer pattern here for a little bit,” Yack said. “Things may change back the other way, who knows. But it doesn’t really give us any indication one way or the other.”In fact, real Chicagoans shouldn’t be surprised to learn what could be in store for us by Friday, according to the NWS: Even more snow. ...read more read less