Miniature white lights dress up barren winter trees in a plaza in downtown Chicago at night. Though this was photographed around Christmas, the lights are left up for much of the winter. Those who brave a visit to the Windy City in winter are rewarded by many such scenes.

A cold winter rain slicks streets and sidewalks in the Chicago Loop

Naked trees are coated with ice and icicles after a winter ice storm in Wilmington, Illinois. This happens only rarely, and it requires weather conditions that begin with rain in temperatures above freezing, with a rapid drop in temperature that quick freezes the ice on all the plants.

Severe winter storm in rural Illinois coats everything with ice, leaving beauty in its dangerous wake

State Street in downtown Chicago, decked out for Christmas, including giant toy trains on top of the subway stairway entrances