Sure, it's cold in Chicago but just wait

CHICAGO - Brrrr-ace yourself for another day with highs only in the 20s. 

Monday and Tuesday will mark back-to-back days that have more typical temperatures for the middle of winter than the end of November. It's been nearly 10 months since we have been this frigid. This will collectively be the coldest period since late January and early February.

Despite this being the fifth straight colder-than-average day, we are still on track to see our 10th month of the year with above-average temperatures overall. Highs should return to near normal tomorrow and then be a smidgen above average for the final few days of this month. Average highs for the end of November are around 42 degrees.

Our Fox model has only one day out of the next 10 with a below-average high. This Wednesday's forecast high of 39 is just 3 degrees below average. Even a week from this Wednesday when the high might fail to get into the 40s, the 39-degree high would be right at average for early December.

December starts on Friday and all indications are it will be a relatively mild month, at least by December standards. December is the third-coldest month of the year with average highs at the beginning of the month around 41 degrees, then falling to 33 by December 31st.

The longer-range temperature outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center are encouraging if you aren't a fan of the recent cold. A lot of brown on the maps, especially in the Midwest.

The 6-10 day temperature outlook has northern Illinois and Indiana "likely above" normal overall. This covers the period from Sunday through the following Thursday. 

Brown areas are favored to be above-average overall and blue areas are favored to be below average overall on these maps.

The 8-14 day outlook keeps the relatively milder pattern coming. It has all of northern Illinois and Indiana either "leaning above" or "likely above" average overall.

 This covers the period from next Tuesday through the following Monday.  

The 3-4 week temperature outlook takes us through the first three weeks of December. It also favors us for being above average overall.

The monthly temperature outlook for December is also promising for those of us who want to forgo as much frigid weather as possible. It also favors us for above-average temperatures overall. While we may be looking at a long stretch of relatively mild weather overall, keep in mind there may be a few days that dip well below average sprinkled in. 

The 60s that we saw less than two weeks ago may be a thing of the past. The typical final date for a high of 60 or more is November 25th. We could possibly squeeze out a few more 50s. The typical last date for a high of 50 or more is December 13th.