The temperature hits a record high in February, and where’s your first stop?The obvious answer: The car wash.People all over Chicago used Monday’s warm weather to turn their cars from salty reminders of winter to shiny and spring-ready vehicles. Then, many took a nice drive with the windows roll ed down. A woman runs with her dog in Humboldt Park on Monday. The Chicago area set a daily record for Feb. 16, with the high reaching 64 at O’Hare Airport. The previous record high was 58 in 1921.Anthony Vazquez “It’s a vacation day,” Denise Cameron said of the unseasonably warm Presidents Day as she waited for her car at Bert’s Car Wash in West Town. “Everything’s nice — when your car is cleaned and your house is cleaned, everything is good.”Another customer — dashing to her freshly detailed car — said she hadn’t gotten it washed since the first snow in the fall.The start of this week is giving the city a short reprieve from a snowy and cold winter that saw a 20-day stretch of subfreezing temperatures — the longest in almost two decades — and several snowstorms. Spring-like warmth will carry occasional opportunities for showers and even a thunderstorm through the middle of the week. Reality will return toward the end of the week as a cold front delivers more seasonable temperatures (especially by the weekend). #ILwx #INwx pic.twitter.com/3mqylyavvB— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) February 16, 2026 After a couple sunny and mild days over the weekend, Monday hit a high of 64, making it the warmest Feb. 16 in the city’s recorded history, according to National Weather Service data. The previous record had stood since 1921 at 58 degrees A bicyclist rides on Milwaukee Avenue on Monday.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times With so many people having the same idea, drivers had to wait in long lines to get their cars cleaned. As many as 19 cars were in line at Bert’s — including two Chicago police vehicles — stretching down the block and around the corner.Perfect winter for car washesBert’s co-owner Jorge Aguilar said the wait on busy days can last more than an hour. “We’ve been busy the last three weeks, nonstop,” Aguilar said. “This year, the wintertime was a little different, right? We haven't seen this winter for many, many years. They got the snow, they got the cold, and then they got warm weather. For us, it was the perfect winter.”Aguilar said about 300 cars have been going through Bert’s every day, with 14 or 15 workers on the clock to meet demand.Other car washes had lines at least a dozen deep.The warm weather and the school holiday brought many outdoors in shorts and short sleeves, grilling and having fun at the lakefront.“It's been widespread in the area with temperatures more like mid-April than mid-February,” said Brett Borchardt, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service.The high of 64 degrees recorded at O’Hare Airport matched the high in Rockford, which also set a record. Borchardt said Peru, Ill., about 100 miles southwest of the city, hit 70 degrees.Chicagoans muttered and moaned through cold, wind and snow since October after a series of mild winters the past few years.The city exceeded the entire 2024-25 snowfall total by the end of December and has seen 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.Getting active in Humboldt ParkIn Humboldt Park on the West Side, Karl Wenzel and Charles Hekma shed their shirts for some tennis, something they haven’t been able to do since the fall. Charles Hekma and a buddy play tennis for the first time since fall on Monday at Humboldt Park.The winds posed a bit of a challenge.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times “It’s windy, which is difficult to play a little bit, but it’s great,” Hekma said. “Got to take advantage, go outside.”Wenzel said it was nice to see people getting active.“Feels more like a spring day rather than a winter day for sure,” he said. “We’re able to play shirtless in February. That is unusual. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say that before. I keep forgetting it’s February, actually.”Across the street, Gary Times was playing fetch with his two small dogs, Vito and Cupcake.“Sweet relief. Finally,” Times said. “I’m tired of the winter.“They’ve been cooped up in the house for a little bit,” he said of his dogs. “I don’t really like bringing them out when it’s really cold. So they’ve kind of been whimpering a bit lately since they can’t go outside. But they’ve been having a good time.”Nearby, Reynaldo Rodriguez, a local artist, was updating a mural he had painted on a tree trunk in 2021. He took inspiration from Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. Artist Reynaldo Rodriguez updates a mural he painted in 2021 on a tree trunk in Humboldt Park. He says he was inspired by Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times “Too much time inside,” Rodriguez said of the winter.Nathan Adams, 7, was climbing a tree stump as his dad Eric looked on. They had biked to the park and planned to go have lunch after.“Trying to get him off the screens,” the father said of Nathan. “Just trying to enjoy the park. This park is a great park. And I want him to kind of grow up in this park so he knows the ins and outs. As he gets older, he can go, ‘Let’s go to this spot.’” Eric Adams and his son Nathan, 7, spent Monday exploring Humboldt Park. Dad was trying to keep the youngster away from screens for a while.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Nathan, of course, wasn’t buying it: “Can we play video games, dad? The Zelda video game?” he asked.“I think not, my friend,” his dad replied. Groups of people enjoy the record breaking warm weather along the Lakefront trail near Belmont Harbor, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times 1 of 10 Two fisherman adjust their line at Humboldt Park, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times 2 of 10 Groups of people enjoy the record breaking warm weather along the Lakefront trail near Belmont Harbor, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times 3 of 10 Gary Times throws the ball to his dogs at Humboldt Park, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times 4 of 10 Groups of people enjoy the record breaking warm weather along the Lakefront trail near Belmont Harbor, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times 5 of 10 Reynaldo “GuAracibo” Rodriguez paints a small piece at Humboldt Park, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times 6 of 10 Groups of people enjoy the record breaking warm weather along the Lakefront trail near Belmont Harbor, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times 7 of 10 Employees dry off a vehicle for a customer outside at Bert’s Car Wash at 1231 W Grand Ave in West Town, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times 8 of 10 Groups of people enjoy the record breaking warm weather along the Lakefront trail near Belmont Harbor, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times 9 of 10 Charles Hekma swings at a tennis ball during a match at Humboldt Park, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times 10 of 10 After dipping to 47 degrees Tuesday, the high will be 62 Wednesday, the NWS says. If the weather stays 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? Related Arctic blast hits Chicago area with dangerously cold temps, wind chills 29 degrees below zero Chicago records 17.1 inches of snow — the most by Dec. 7 since 1978 “No, we just got locked into a warmer pattern here for a little bit,” National Weather Service meteorologist Zachary 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