Record high temp set at O'Hare - remember what it was like a year ago?

What a difference a year makes.

This time in 2019, the Chicago area tied a cold record when a polar vortex gripped the area and getting above zero felt "warm."

On Sunday, a record high of 52 degrees was set at O'Hare International Airport as suburbanites hit walking trails, jogged in shorts and soaked up some vitamin D.

"Everyone's shoving their kids out the door today," Cathy Campana of St. Charles said Sunday afternoon as she set off on a walk around Peck Farm Park in Geneva. "The wind is strong, but the sun feels good. This is a great place for a walk. The (Geneva) park district keeps it up."

Ricky Castro, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Romeoville, said O'Hare set a record high for Feb. 2, breaking the mark set in 1992.

Unofficially, Midway Airport actually hit 54 degrees Sunday, but the melting snowcover kept some suburban areas in the upper 40s Sunday, Castro said.

"It's certainly been a bit milder this winter. This particular warm-up will be short-lived," said Castro, noting high temperatures for the rest of the week will be seasonal in the low 40s and 30s.

In Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow on Groundhog Day, predicting an early spring. But in McHenry County, Woodstock Willie did, in fact, see his shadow, signifying six more weeks of winter.

Andreas and Mary Alice Ernst of St. Charles took their dog, Bandit, for a walk in Geneva Sunday and recalled a year ago when it was well below zero on their son's 21st birthday.

"It this is the rest of winter, we'll take it," Mary Alice Ernst said.