Chicago weather: Arctic air brings dangerous wind chills, closes schools

CHICAGO - Arctic air is pouring over Chicagoland early this morning. Temperatures continue to fall and as of this writing, wind chills are generally between -20 and -27 degrees. 

Chicago hit with dangerous cold

What we know:

The Extreme Cold Warning will be in effect until noon today. After that, a Cold Weather Advisory will be in effect until 9 a.m. Saturday. The upshot of this is that painful to downright-dangerous wind chills will continue through Saturday morning. 

The actual high for this day will either be 4 or 5 degrees, which will be the temperature recorded exactly at midnight. Temperatures may get back up to zero during the afternoon. Skies will be partly cloudy with a chance of a flurry here and there. Tonight will be quite cold with lows around -6. 

Schools are closed all throughout Chicagoland today. Tap here for a full list.

What's next:

This weekend our focus is not solely on the cold, but also on the sprawling storm system that will be bringing ice and snow to our south. There is great computer model agreement that snow will fall in Chicagoland especially tomorrow night and Sunday. The forecast amounts for the most part have come down slightly, but would still be impactful, especially near the lake. 

The other problem will be the fact that at these cold temperatures, salt will have little effect, meaning cleanup of roadways will be made more difficult continuing into Monday morning’s commute. 

After the weekend storm system moves by, there may still be some lake-effect snow showers around on Monday in Indiana. High temperatures remain in the deep freeze around 10 degrees. Below normal temperatures are expected through next week.

Climate factoid

By the numbers:

The daily/monthly normals for temperatures and precipitation are based on 30 years of data. In this case it’s 1991-2020. Based on those data, today is the coldest day (on average) of the year. The normal high 31.1 and the normal low is 17.9 for a daily average of 24.5. 

Salvation Army warming centers

Belvidere – 422 South Main St., Belvidere 
Hours – Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

Bloomington – 611 West Washington St., Bloomington
Hours – Open 24 / 7. 

Blue Island – 2900 Burr Oak Ave., Blue Island 
Hours – Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

Canton – 176 South First Ave., Canton 
Hours – Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM.

Champaign – 502 North Prospect Ave., Champaign
Hours – Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM.

Chicago Freedom Center – 825 North Christiana Ave., Chicago
Hours – Open 24 / 7. 

Chicago Midway – 5036-52 West 47th St., Chicago
Hours – Monday through Friday 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM.

Chicago Temple – 1 North Ogden Ave., Chicago
Hours – Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

Decatur – 137 South Church St., Decatur
Hours – Monday through Friday 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

DeKalb – 830 Grove St., DeKalb
Hours – While the food pantry is open - Monday through Thursday 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM.

Joliet – 300 Third Ave., Joliet
Hours – Monday through Friday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

Kewanee – 119 N Tremont St., Kewanee
Hours – Monday through  Friday  10:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Saturday 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM.

Lincoln – 200 Fifth St., Lincoln  
Hours – Monday through Friday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM.    

Norridge – 8354 West Foster Ave., Norridge 
Hours – Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM.

Oakbrook Terrace – 1 S 415 Summit Ave., Villa Park
Hours – Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. 

Pekin – 243 Derby St., Pekin
Hours – Open 24 / 7. 

Springfield – 1600 Clear Lake Ave., Springfield
Hours – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM;  Wednesday 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM. 

Sterling/Rock Falls – 409 Avenue F, Sterling
Hours – Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

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