Chicago Weather: Frigid Temperatures Through Friday, Wind Chill Plunging, School Closings
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FRIDAY 1/16
2:30 P.M.
The temperature briefly reached above zero today, before plunging back down around 1 p.m., the Tribune reports:
The mercury hit 1 degree above about 11:30 a.m., said Joe Dubczak, National Weather Service observer at O'Hare International Airport. But as of 12:51 p.m., the mercury was 4 degrees below zero at O'Hare, where Chicago's official temperature is taken, with a windchill of 20 below.
High temperatures may reach up to 7 degrees today, with windchills as low as 30 below zero. Temperatures will remain roughly the same overnight, though with a fresh snowfall expected. Saturday brings a warm up, the Tribune reports, but also more snow:
Warmer temperatures -- and more snow -- are on the way Saturday. High temperatures will be in the 20s and total snow accumulation could be up to 2 inches.
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Though the weather remains biting, the National Weather Service expects to lift its windchill warning at noon today, which could mean a bit of thaw is in store Friday afternoon.
From the Tribune:
A National Weather Service windchill warning for most of the Chicago region remains in effect until noon today as the city and suburbs are coping with some of the bitterest cold in almost 13 years.Story continues below
Windchills of 25 to 45 below are on tap for this morning, with the western suburbs suffering the coldest temperatures.
As of 3:52 a.m. today the mercury was 23 degrees below zero, with windchills of minus 41, in Aurora. The temperature was 22 below, with a minus 38 windchill, in West Chicago.
The temperature in Chicago at 5:30 a.m. today was minus 11 without windchill, the same as it was Thursday morning at O'Hare. That was the coldest daytime temperature recorded there since 1996, when it was minus 14.
The roads are in especially bad shape after the sustained cold snap. From the Sun-Times:
On the road, State Police reported an unusually high number of crashes -- including one involving a squad car.About 3:15 a.m., a State Police squad car was struck as it was responding to a crash on the northbound Kennedy Expressway near Armitage Avenue. The trooper was in the car, but was not injured or hospitalized, Illinois State Police District Chicago Trooper Ivan Bukaczyk said.
Earlier, State Police responded to seven separate crashes involving 15 different vehicles on the Ontario feeder ramp from the outbound Kennedy Expressway (I-90/94) about 2:30 a.m., Bukaczyk said.
The Illinois State Police have issued road warnings to drivers, reminding them to watch out for the black ice that has coated city streets and expressways:
And on an already rough day for commuters, a freight train derailment in Buffalo Grove made things worse for Metra riders:
All morning rush hour service on Metra's North Central service between Antioch and Chicago has been canceled today because of a major freight train derailment in Buffalo Grove, Metra said. It was considered unlikely that service would be able to resume any time today.
WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling did find a glimmer of optimism amid the brutal cold: Thursday was the midway point of meteorological winter.
The state's official list of warming center locations is here.
A complete list of area school closings is here.
Click here for updated area travel times.
The CTA and Metra are posting any line delays on their web sites.
Flight delay information from around the country is here.
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1/15
The SouthtownStar found a bunch of cold lovers who prefer these arctic temperatures over warmer weather:
Steve Gutschenritter lives for this kind of weather."I'll take below zero with the sun over 50 or even 80 degrees with clouds," said the Frankfort father of three.
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A Hammond, Ind. boy provided an example of what not to do in cold weather:
In a scene straight out of the movie "A Christmas Story," a 10-year-old Hammond boy got his tongue stuck to a metal light pole.Police say the unidentified fourth-grader was able to tell them that a friend dared him to lick the pole Wednesday night. Temperatures in Hammond were around 10 degrees at the time.
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The Tribune sought advice for braving the cold from downtown hotel doormen. The takeaway: dress warm (especially hat and socks), eat a lot and keep moving.
The advice from residents of oft-frozen Fargo, North Dakota was more a matter of perspective.
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All eight ice rinks operated by the Chicago Park District as well as the Millennium Park Ice Rink have been closed due to weather.
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The CTA is working overtime to keep switching from freezing up, WBBM reports:
CTA President Ron Huberman said extra workers have been assigned to switch towers and on the ground at key switches around the clock -- even where the lines are not operating.
[...]
All of the important switches the trains use to change tracks have heaters designed to keep them from freezing in place. But Huberman said they are not always effective when it is so cold outside.
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CLTV captured video of the frigid sunrise above the lake:
NBC reporter Kim Vatis attempted to beat the weather while filing an early morning dispatch:
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There will be no respite from the bitter cold until at least Friday afternoon. From the Tribune's report:
A National Weather Service windchill warning for most of the Chicago region remains in effect until noon Friday as the city and suburbs today are coping with some of the bitterest cold in almost 13 years.Temperatures and windchills were well below zero degrees across the area this afternoon, with the western suburbs suffering the coldest temperatures.
As of 4:52 p.m. the mercury was 17 degrees below zero, with windchills of minus-40, in Aurora. The temperature and windchills were minus-9 and minus-27, respectively, in West Chicago.
The frigid temperatures have made it impossible for the city to fill the multiplying potholes, Mayor Daley said Thursday:
City Hall's 21 pothole repair crews have been dispatched across the city, filling an average of 3,700 potholes a day over the first eight days of the year. But Daley said hundreds of new reports come in each day and thousands of potholes remain unplugged."When snow and ice are packed in the street, it's nearly impossible for crew to make any pothole repairs," the mayor said. "It is difficult to work with high-performance, cold patch material in sub-zero temperatures. It pops up ... It's frozen when you put it down."
CLTV waded into downtown Aurora, the coldest spot in the region today:
Bad as the current weather is, it's far from record-setting, CBS 2 reports:
On Jan. 18, 1994, the low for the day in Chicago was -21, and the high was only -11.In December 1983, a brutal cold snap culminated in a frigid Christmas holiday where the temperature did not crack 0 from Dec. 22 until Dec. 26. The low that year was -24 on Christmas Eve and -17 on Christmas Day, and in a CBS 2 weather forecast at the time, meteorologist Harry Volkman was warning of overnight wind chills of -75 and air temperatures of -30 in the western suburbs.
But the coldest day ever in Chicago came on Jan. 20, 1985, when the mercury bottomed out at -27.
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Chicago Public Radio rounded up a bunch of Chicagoans who were out and about despite the cold, including a woman biking in Humboldt Park. Listen here.
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The Huffington Post
First Posted: 01-15-09 10:00 AM | Updated: 02-15-09 05:12 AM