Arctic-like temperatures gripped Chicago on Monday for the third day in a row, sending chills throughout the city.
Monday morning was the coldest morning in seven years in the Chicago area, WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling said. At 6:17 a.m., the temperature at O’Hare was 10 degrees below zero.
“This could be why [this weather] hits people so hard–we’ve had nothing close to it this winter or the last several winters,” Skilling said. So far, February is 17 degrees below normal, Skilling said.
Throughout the city, workers fielded calls about broken pipes and faulty furnaces. Officials made well-being checks on elderly residents. Warming centers stayed open late to offer the homeless respite from the cold. Police around the Chicago area were investigating whether three deaths Monday may have been related to the cold, and a fourth death was ruled cold-related, officials said.
Chicago will slowly emerge from its first real encounter with cold this winter by midweek, after what could be as many as five straight days with subzero readings, Skilling said. Temperatures aren’t expected to reach the 20s for a while.
That run of subzero readings has not happened here since Dec. 20-25, 2000, when six straight subzero days were logged, Skilling says. The bitterly cold temperatures in Chicago have brought out heavy coats–and the best and worst in people. Here’s how Chicagoans are coping.
— Kathryn Masterson, Redeye
A mild or wild winter?
Some people are blaming Chicagoans’ crabby moods on the fact that winter started out mild–and then collapsed into a deep freeze.
“It just feels bad because we were teased at the beginning of winter,” said Peter Wisdom, a 25-year-old Lakeview resident.
Dan Krohn, a 27-year-old visiting from Milwaukee, also is surprised by the sudden shift.
“I thought we had seen what it was going to be like,” Krohn said. “It looks like the worst is yet to come.”
Not all people are upset about the cold weather.
Whitney Green, a 20-year-old North Side resident, doesn’t understand what all the complaining is about. “It’s Chicago for you,” Green said. “Chicago gets cold. People were surprised? Where do they think they live?”
— Virgil Dickson, Redeye
Classic case of cold rage
Cold rage erupted in several areas of downtown Chicago on Monday, as some pushed, shouted and shoved their way toward warmth.
Pedestrians shoved each other out of the way as they skittered across the street. A couple argued loudly over where to eat lunch, with the woman snapping that it didn’t matter, as long as it was close. A pair of men, bundled from head to toe, engaged in a shouting match over a cab. On the way downstairs to the Washington and State “L” stop, a hatless, scarfless woman with her hands jammed into her pockets cursed at slower-moving riders in front of her.
— Kyra Kyles, Redeye
Commuting adds to cold’s sting
For Lauren Richie, a 25-year-old Birmingham, Mich., native who now lives in Lakeview, cold weather is something she has had to put up with her whole life. But because Chicago is a commuter city, this winter is worse for her. “This is different because you have to walk in it instead of driving in it,” Richie said. “I’m freezing.”
Others agreed that commuting adds to the pain.
“It’s really frustrating considering how far I have to walk to work and to school,” said Tiffany Meyers, 21, of Bucktown. The 10-minute walk from her apartment to the “L”–as well as waiting under inefficient heat lamps–add to her misery, she said. “They don’t work and cold air just keeps blowing in the booths.”
The arctic winds have been especially hard on 20-year-old Thomas Ghander, a Brazil native who has been living in the Chicago for five months. “Lately it has been pretty much below zero,” Ghander said. “In Brazil it’s usually no lower than 70.” To combat the cold, Ghander said he has stopped walking the four blocks it usually takes him to get to work and opts to take a cab instead.
— Virgil Dickson, Redeye
Cold brings out the best in some
The phones were ringing off the hook at Max’s Towing and Auto Service near the South Loop.
Assistant mechanic Bill Tower hated having to tell customers that the wait was more than two hours because of all the cold-weather car complaints.
“We’re very busy,” Tower said Monday afternoon. “We’re just trying to take people as they come.”
Stranded drivers typically have to wait about a half-hour, Tower said, but the cold spell jammed the shop with battery and engine problems.
One family brought a car in to have the brakes fixed. As the afternoon wore on, it became clear the car wouldn’t be ready by the time the couple’s kids got out of school.
So, the mechanic made the only decision that made sense–he let them borrow his car.
“You can’t be out in this weather,” Tower said. “How are you going to say no to them? They’re regular customers, so I trust them with my car.”
— Tribune
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The cold facts
Frigid temps can be dangerous for you and your home. Here are the cold facts you’ll need to get through the deep freeze.
— Kathryn Masterson, Redeye
FREEZING PIPES
Want to keep your pipes from freezing or bursting? Let the water run. According to the Red Cross, letting water drip from a faucet served by exposed pipes can help keep pipes from freezing. A continuous slow drip is all that is needed. Also, keeping your thermostat no lower than 55 degrees will help prevent pipes from freezing.
WIND CHILL
Wind chill is the temperature your body feels when the air temperature is combined with wind speed. It is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by the wind and cold.
The National Weather Service issues wind chill warnings when the wind chill falls to 20 degrees below zero or lower, Skilling says. But even when the wind chill is not that low, such as Monday evening’s wind chill of 13 degrees below zero, it still can be dangerous.
LAKE FREEZE
Lake Michigan has never completely frozen over, but it’s not impossible, says WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling.
What has kept the lake from a total freeze, Skilling says, is that some water in the lake is warmer than freezing and strong winds and waves churn that warmer water.
In an average winter, ice covers a little less than half the lake, though several harsh winters in the 1970s caused it to become more than 90 percent ice covered.
DRINKING
Alcoholic and caffeinated beverages cause the body to lose heat more rapidly and should not be consumed in extremely cold conditions, according to the CDC. Instead, the agency recommends drinking warm, sweet beverages or broth to maintain your body temperature.
WET HAIR
Going outside with wet hair won’t give you a cold or the flu. You must come in contact with germs or a virus to catch one of those illnesses. However, researchers at the Common Cold Centre in Wales told CNN that their research showed chilling parts of the body seemed to activate viruses already in the body.
HYPOTHERMIAAND FROST BITE
Hypothermia is abnormally low body temperature, which affects a person’s thinking. Risk is highest for elderly people without proper heat or clothing, babies sleeping in cold bedrooms and people outdoors for long periods of time, according to the CDC.
If someone with hypothermia symptoms (shivering, drowsiness, slurred speech or confusion) has a temperature below 95 degrees, seek medical help immediately.
Frostbite is an injury to the body caused by freezing, leading to a loss of feeling in affected areas. Risk is highest for people with poor circulation or who are not dressed properly for extremely cold temperatures.
If skin is white or grayish-yellow and feels unusually firm or waxy, seek medical attention.
