Is this a leftover Halloween gag, or is someone in Lake Bluff missing a cat? We hope it is the former, but it does seem possible for a feline to freeze this way, given weather that oscillates between foggy mugginess and clear-sky frigidity. After a lovely White Christmas and Hannukah, Saturday brought unseasonably warm temperatures, fog that seemed thicker than old eggnog and heavy rains that flooded golf courses, ice rinks, storm drains and basements. But by Sunday when this photo was taken, the sky was clear and bright and the air was dry and very, very cold. According to weather folklore, a clear moon brings a frost soon, and this was the case Sunday night with highs in the low 20s.
The freeze-thaw cycles are expected to continue. The National Weather Service forecasts a high of 42 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday; 35 on Tuesday and 21 on Wednesday. Wear a warm coat on New Year's Eve; the night-time temp is expected to reach 12 degrees. And keep the cats indoors.
(Click the picture to get a close-up of the cat.)
Saturday afternoon in Lake Forest's West park ice rink:
Saturday afternoon on Deerpath Road, near Faith Lutheran Church:
Saturday afternoon on the off-ramp at Route 41 in Lake Forest
What a difference a day makes. By Sunday afternoon, the sky was blue-as-can-be-blue at the bluff overlooking Sunrise Beach in Lake Bluff:
Comments