Le Journal

Arctic air arrived overnight in the Chicago area, with wind chills expected to make temperatures feel as low as -40 degrees by daybreak Friday and an extreme cold warning in effect for all of northeastern Illinois. As of 5 a.m., temperatures across the area were all below zero and dropping. NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Alicia Roman said. Winds were expected to gust as high as 30 mph as the morning continued. “It’s a very blustery, frigid morning” Roman said. “The only thing we have going for us, is we may have a little sunshine today.” How cold will it get? Wind chills early Friday morning were between -20 and -30 degrees, Roman said, especially in areas to the north and west, including Woodstock, Rockford, Waukegan, Aurora and DuPage. As the sun rises, the cold will become even more extreme. Chicago 20 hours ago Chicago extreme cold too chilly for even a polar plunge: Annual event canceled Chicago Forecast Jan 22 Could extreme cold in Chicago area lead to ‘icequakes' this week? Chicago Forecast Jan 22 Will extreme cold cause ‘exploding trees' in Chicago area? An expert weighs in The coldest point of the day, Roman said, with wind chills anywhere from -35 degrees to -40 degrees will occur between 7 and 8 a.m. Such temperatures could lead to frostbite in as little as 10 minutes. “It’s going to be more kind of reddish fingers, maybe toes, that burning sensation,” Dr. Scott Henrich of Rush University Medical Center said, of how frostnip starts. “You might feel a little bit of pain. As it progresses more to frostbite, you can get kind of some color changes, you may get some tingling, then you may lose sensation in there and get some blistering as well.” Henrich added that frostbite can happen “pretty quickly” in the temperature the Chicago area is seeing. Should you actually warm up your car in the extreme cold? The answer may not be what you’d expect “You can start off feeling kind of shivering, feeling really cold. And as it progresses, you can actually start getting some changes in your mental status. Maybe some confusion, or just acting not normally,” he said. The brutal conditions also forced Metra to reduce service and led to more than 100 schools in Illinois, including Chicago Public Schools, to announce closures or moves to e-learning Friday. You can find a full list of schools closed Friday here. Chicago-area schools, museums, libraries are closed due to brutal cold. What’s open? Dozens of libraries would also be closed, the Emergency Closing Center reported. Some popular Chicago-area museums also announced closures due to the cold, including the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium. How long will the cold last? Things won’t improve much as the day goes on. When the extreme cold warning ends, a cold weather advisory will go into effect for the area, lasting from 12 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. “Later today, our high temperature, right at zero,” Roman said. “That’s it for this afternoon.” Saturday’s high temperature, Roman said, was 10 degrees. Morning wind chills Saturday would still be bitter, between -15 and -25 degrees. Will a major winter storm hit Illinois? As the Chicago area sees brutal temperatures, a “high impact and far-reaching” winter storm was setting up across the Tennessee Valley, with millions of people bracing heavy snow and crippling ice, according to the NWS Weather Prediction Center. The storm, moving from west to east, could crush trees and power lines and knock out power for days. Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston could see enough snow to make travel very difficult or nearly impossible, forecasters say. “The set up is there for major travel disruptions, record snowfall and significant ice accumulations to knock out power… I don’t say this lightly,”…

Friday marked one of the coldest days in Chicago years, but how cold did it really get? According to the National Weather Service, just before 8 a.m. Chicago’s air temperatures reached as low as -11 degrees with -36-degree wind chills. While it’s not the coldest air the city has ever seen, it did mark a record. The low air temperature of -11 degrees Friday morning breaks the previous daily record of -4 degrees from 1963 for Jan. 23. Extreme Weather 6 hours ago What is the coldest place on Earth and how does Chicago's cold compare? Chicago Weather 6 hours ago Parts of the Chicago area feel like -40 degrees. When will winter end? It’s also one of the coldest in recent history. Only four days have seen high temperatures stay below zero since 1996. -1 degree: Dec. 23, 2022-10 degrees: Jan. 30, 2019 (record minimum high temp is -11 degrees in 1994 & 1983)-2 degrees: Jan. 6, 2014-1 degree: Jan. 15, 2009 It’s also the lowest temperature in Chicago since Jan. 15, 2024. But it’s far from the coldest ever recorded in the city. In fact, in the 1980s, Chicago saw air temperatures reach beyond -20 degrees multiple times. -27 degrees Jan. 20, 1985 (wind chill was -60 degrees)-26 degrees Jan. 10, 1982-25 degrees Jan. 16, 1982 & Dec. 24, 1983 So how long will it last? While the extreme cold warning came to an end at 12 p.m., a cold weather advisory will go into effect directly after and last until 9 a.m. Saturday. Temperatures are likely to remain below average from Jan. 30 through Feb. 5, according to the NBC 5 Storm Team. Saturday’s high temperature is forecast to be 10 degrees. Morning wind chills Saturday will still be bitter, with feels-like temps as low as -30. Parts of the Chicago area could also see snow chances Saturday and Sunday as part of a winter storm set to hit multiple states, with heavy snow and crippling ice. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Northern Indiana authorities reported several crashes on ice-covered major roads and interstates amid sub-zero windchills and lake effect snow across the region Friday. Snow showers were expected in Northern Indiana until around 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service, leading to reduced visibility for drivers. Friday’s high around 3 degrees with wind chill values as low as 20 degrees below zero, left roads slick and icy and salt less effective. “Salt will not work at these sub-zero temperatures” Indiana State Police Sergent Glen Fifield said in a post on social media around 12:30 p.m. about a crash on eastbound I-94 west of Michigan City. According to Cargill, an agricultural supply and food company, most types of rock salt have a “practical working temperature,” between 15-to-20 degrees. When temperatures are in single digits like Friday, slick spots could potentially form on roadways that have been treated with salt. Indiana State Police shared several pictures of crashes causing closures in the northern part of the state throughout Friday. “Lake effect snow, blowing wind and extremely cold temps are making roads very slick and hazardous to drive on,” Indiana State Police Sergent Tod Bohner said in a post on X. “These conditions will persist all weekend,” Bohner said. The Indiana Toll Road crash was cleared around 12:23 p.m., according to a subsequent post from Bohner. “Please SLOW DOWN no matter what road you drive on in these conditions,” Bohner said in the post. NWS also warned of reduced visibility near Lake Michigan as lake effect snow blankets the area in 1 to 3 inches of snow throughout Friday. NWS also warned of more snow on the way, expected to potentially hit along and south of the US 24 corridor Saturday afternoon and linger through Sunday night. A Winter Storm Watch will be in effect from 7 p.m. ET Saturday through 7 p.m. ET Sunday in the area, according to NWS. More than 6 inches of accumulating snow is possible and travel impacts are likely. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

As temperatures plunge across the Chicago area, many residents are bracing for a hit to their wallets: higher utility bills. The cost of heating a home continues to climb, and this winter’s sub-zero stretch is forcing furnaces to work overtime. According to the Citizens Utility Board, gas utility rates in the Chicago area rose between 15% and 56% from December 2024 to December 2025. For households already struggling to keep up, the spike can feel overwhelming. But consumer advocates say financial assistance is available. Applications for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program are open through mid‑April – or until funding is depleted. LIHEAP is an income‑based program that provides payments directly to a household’s utility provider to help offset heating costs. For those who don’t qualify, another option may still be available. The Low Income Discounts Program offers eligible natural gas and ComEd customers reduced rates on their utility bills. For more information on each of the programs, click here. All assistance programs are income‑based, and consumer experts encourage residents to explore their options before bills become unmanageable.

A crash prompted a full shutdown in both directions of a portion of Route 53 in the western suburbs of Chicago Friday afternoon. Around 4:15 p.m., Route 53 was shut down between Taylor Road and Airport Road in Romeoville, the village said in a social media post. “Please avoid the area,” the Village of Romeoville said in the post. The crash occurred near Lewis University, a private university located at 1 University Parkway. No additional information was immediately available. Check back for more on this developing story. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.