Diana Spatoulas and Ruta Troutman were talking, laughing and reapplying sunscreen at a picnic table while their sons cooled off in the lake at Breezewald Park in Lake Zurich.
The sun-soaked 84-degree Monday was a reprieve from a summer plagued by rain and unseasonably low temperatures for the Lake Zurich friends and their children.
“It’s nice,” Spatoulas said. “It feels like summer.”
While past summers have typically been marked by long days at the pool, the moms said this summer has meant afternoons at movie theaters, malls and libraries.
Repeated rain storms have soaked the Chicago area to the tune of 110 percent of its average annual rainfall as of Monday, according to data from the National Weather Service.
As for temperatures, June averaged 67.3 degrees, making it the 14th coolest June since 1959 when records began at O’Hare International Airport. Last year, June was hotter than normal with an average of 70.9 degrees.
July has been similar, as the first half of the month has been three degrees cooler than normal.
“Typically we have a lot of pool days, which we have not experienced at all. So pool passes are pretty much a waste at this point,” Spatoulas said.
After morning storms passed Monday, temperatures soared to the mid 80s, bringing dozens of people to Illinois Beach State Park in Zion. Even around 5 p.m., few people showed signs of leaving the crowded beach as more arrived.
Michelle Barron of Round Lake was able to squeeze in some time along the shore.
“It sucks because in Chicago it snows all winter and now rain; it’s relieving not to be cooped up inside,” Barron said.
Monday marked Guadalupe Frias’ third time at the beach this summer, despite weather that has felt more like spring than summer.
“Today feels like the first day that’s a really good beach day,” the North Chicago resident said. “Today’s perfect.”
The parking lot was full at Highland Park’s newly renovated Rosewood Beach as about 50 swimmers and sunbathers took advantage of the seemingly rare beach day.
Liza McElroy, executive director of the Park District of Highland Park, said several hundred people pack the beach when the weather is nice.
“I can tell you that even when the weather’s not great, like really not beachy, we have so many people that just come to see it,” McElroy said of the new beach complex and boardwalk, which opened June 6.
Liz Gogola, head of the park district’s communications and marketing, attributed the committed crowds to the new 1,500-foot boardwalk.
While some sunbathed and swam Monday, others walked along the boardwalk or used its lounge seats to take in the beach atmosphere and Lake Michigan views.
“There’s more to the beach than the beach,” Gogola said.
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