Wind chills in the lower 20s and some scattered snow flurries were recorded overnight as the Chicago area was hit with its coldest weather in nearly five months.
The coldest towns Thursday morning included Harvard and Island Lake, with wind chills of 23, and Glendale Heights, Streator and Hinsdale with 24, according to the Chicago Weather Center. Winds were clocked as high as 30 mph.
Some towns to the west reported light snow, according to the National Weather Service, but none was recorded at O’Hare International Airport.
“Some morning flurries or a light mix north of I-88 may be seen for the season’s first,” the weather service said in a statement, adding that light snow was reported as far south as Rockton. A few inches of snow were reported in central Wisconsin.
The average date for a trace of snow in the Chicago area is Oct. 30. The earliest it’s been recorded is Sept. 25 in 1942 and 1948.
By early next week, warm air will move in from the southwest, and we could see 70 by Tuesday, about 15 degrees above normal. The record high for that date is 75, set in 1987. The record low is 11 set in 1951.
