Chicago had no snow on the ground in January or February for the first time in 146 years since recordkeeping started, breaking another record just a few months after the Cubs won the World Series after a 108-year drought.
Less than an inch of snow fell on the Windy City in January and only a trace in February, and the city has gone 73 days without at least an inch of snow falling, since Dec. 17, according to WGNTV. This beat the previous record of 66 days in 1921-22.
Chicago typically averages more than 40 inches of snow a year, but residents are enjoying the unseasonable temperatures by walking outside and doing outdoor activities like going to the zoo. Linna’s Italian Ice opened more than a month early to capitalize on the increased foot traffic, and the Brookfield Zoo had record February attendance of over 100,000 this year, more than five times as much as usual, NBC News reported.
Snow removal businesses have been hit hard by the unusual weather, however, with business owners and hardware stores reporting a slump. Some ski lodges also closed early for the season after a six-day stretch of high temperatures that topped out over 65 degrees, NBC reported.
Although meteorologists say Chicagoans are not out of the woods yet, any storms that occur in March or April will melt faster due to the warmer angle of the sun, so it’s unlikely that much ground will be made up now.
According to the Chicago Sun Times, snow is forecast in the area on Wednesday, but large accumulations are not expected with the storm, and temperatures will rebound to well above freezing following the storm.
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