Chicagoans flock to city's beaches to beat the extreme heat

CBS News

21-06-2025

Summer in Chicago started off with oppressive, dangerous heat as temperatures topped out above 90°, with the heat index climbing well above 100° on Saturday.
The lakefront was crowded, and so were public pools, as crowds headed out to keep cool by taking a dip anywhere they could.
"I am doing a plein air painting," Kira Mountjoy-Pepka said along the lakefront. "It means painting outdoors and capturing the light exactly as it is."
As an artist captured Chicago's light and shadows, the heat left an impression on everyone.
"Hopefully, I'll get out of here before I melt and turn into a puddle," Mountjoy-Pepka said.
She painted in plein air that felt like 100° and rising.
During an extreme heat warning with dangerously hot and humid conditions, people like Allison Vega flooded places like Millenium Park.
"Kids are running around in their bathing suits, just laying on the ground in the dirty water, but they're cool. So, that's what matters. They're happy and they're cool," she said as her kids played in Crown Fountain.
Bodies of water, no matter how big or small, were the place to be on Saturday.
Buddies Zach Frame and Parker Greenfield beat the heat and the crowds at Humboldt Park Beach, the city's only inland beach, avoiding the larger crowds on the lakefront while still managing to find sand and sun.
"I feel like we kind of skipped spring and went right into summer and then it hit pretty hard," Frame said.
Chicago was sweltering, but the Windy City offered some brief relief.
"The breeze definitely helps," Frame said.