Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The typical exercise of bundling up for winter didn't cut it on Thursday.

It was a time to break out the long underwear and the electric gloves, for what is expected to go down as the coldest day in more than a decade.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill warning until noon Friday. The forecast high for Thursday is expected to linger in the negative range at -2, dropping to -15 overnight. Strong northwest winds are producing wind chill factors of -25 to -40.

CBS 2's Ed Curran says as of 11 a.m., it was -8 at O'Hare International Airport and -5 at Midway. In Waukegan it was also -8, in Joliet it was -14, and in Aurora, the mercury was reading -18.

But with winds of 12 mph at O'Hare, wind chills were far more brutal, at a reading of -27 at O'Hare, -28 at Midway, -33 in Joliet, -37 in DeKalb, and -42 in Aurora at 11 a.m.
 
The subzero temperatures are expected to continue through midday Friday, after which they will creep just above 0.

The last time the low was colder than -10 was Jan. 5, 1999, when it was a bone-chilling -16. Highs Thursday afternoon may also remain just below zero. If the high fails to reach zero, it would be the first time since Feb. 3, 1996, when the high was -5. 

Several schools are closed throughout the Chicago area, although Chicago Public Schools remain open. Many staff in the CBS 2 newsroom could not remember a day when cold weather closed so many schools, and some have already announced plans to remain closed on Friday.

It is so cold that the Chicago Park District has even had to close its outdoor ice rinks -- Daley Bicentennial Park, McKinley Park, Midway Plaisance Park, Mt. Greenwood Park, Riis Park, Rowan Park, Warren Park and West Lawn Park. The Millennium Park rink is also closed.

The standard advice is for people to stay inside, but that's not an option for everyone. Commuters have no choice but to get to work.

In the Loop, they bundled up for short, but brutal journeys over the bridges crossing the icy Chicago River.

"I waited for the Metra about 30 minutes this morning, and that was pretty cold," said Jennifer Souza.

"I have a sweater, layered inside; I'm wearing a coat, I'm wearing wool socks, I'm wearing gloves layered with wool in them – and I'm still cold," another woman said.

"I love the cold," a man said, "but even for me, this is cold."

If even the hardiest Chicagoan can't take the bitter blast, imagine being a tourist. One Fort Worth, Texas man, said he was "about to freeze to death," and he got a train ticket home.

The sky was clear and sunny, the river itself appeared to be completely frozen, and the steam was rising in plumes from Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful sight, but only from the indoor side of a window.

Crews Work To Get Those In Need To Shelters
Meanwhile, for some, getting into a warm environment is the priority in itself.

The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, which runs 90 shelters and six warming shelters, reported a "slight increase" in the number of people it has served over the last couple days, spokeswoman Anne Sheahan said.

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, 86 people were in the six warming centers. On Thursday that number increased to 102 at 10 a.m., according to Sheahan, who said a total of 200 people came to the centers Wednesday.

In the shelter system, which contains 5,000 beds, 720 were unused Wednesday night compared to the 800 that were open Tuesday night, she said.

To meet the higher demand brought by the cold weather, some of the shelters are extending hours and implementing or expanding meal service.

Anyone who needs transportation to a warming center or shelter can call 311, Sheahan said.

By Thursday afternoon, the city had received about 170 calls for no heat. City workers went on well-being checks.

On Wednesday night, CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot tagged along with city Department of Family Support Services Commissioner Mary Ellen Caron, who took to the streets Wednesday night. She wanted to persuade people to come in for the night – at least until Friday.

Some people do not like the idea of going to a shelter, but Caron was able to convince some of them that the weather was dangerous.

"We are very concerned about the cold right now, and just getting people into warm places for tonight," Caron said, "and so that's is our main purpose for being down here, and for hopefully moving people into shelters."

"Everybody homeless should go and try to get themselves together, and it's cold out here tonight, and I hope everybody gets a shelter tonight," said Fonta Wright, who is homeless. "I hope everybody goes inside tonight, because it's going to be too cold to be hanging out."

Wright himself went to a shelter Wednesday night, and said he would probably do the same on Thursday night.

At Pacific Garden Mission, a 900-bed homeless shelter at 1458 S. Canal St., administrators have seen such an influx of people seeking shelter over the past four days that about 100 people are sleeping on mats due to lack of space.

Mission spokesman Philip Kwiatkowski said Tuesday morning the shelter had about 1,000 people in the building. An average winter day would normally bring about 850-900.

"When the temperature gets around 10-15 degrees, you will see an influx [of people]," he said. Some people will try to brave the cold weather, but "when it gets to temperatures like this it's about life or death," he added.

Those who don't have beds sleep on mats, according to Kwiatkowski, noting the shelter will never turn anyone away due to lack of space.

Frostbite, Hypothermia Become Serious Risk
The bitter temperatures have also increased the number of cold-related injuries doctors are seeing in the emergency room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

ER Dr. Rahul Khare said they have seen a huge increase in the number of cases of frostbite and hypothermia. A total of 15 people with frostbite were admitted Wednesday, according to Khare, who said he personally attended to five frostbite cases between 4 p.m. and midnight Wednesday.

He also saw three patients between 6 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Thursday who were suffering from hypothermia and had a body temperature of less than 94 degrees.

On an average winter day when the temperature is between 20 and 30 degrees, the hospital would get one or two frostbites a day. "There has definitely been a significant increase in frostbite," the doctor said.

When exposed to the extreme cold, your body begins to lose heat faster than it can be produced. That's when hypothermia can set in.

"People should notice the change in their mental status -- confused, disoriented, almost like they're drunk -- but they haven't had anything to drink," said Commissioner Dr. Terry Mason of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Some other warning signs of hypothermia are drowsiness, confusion and memory loss.

"The main thing we want to make sure is that seniors, children -- the extremes of ages are the ones that are very, very vulnerable to this -- so, we want to make sure that they are well-protected and supervised," Mason said.

Warning signs for hypothermia in an infant are bright red, cold skin and a child with very low energy. Anyone with a temperature below 95 degrees should get medical help right away because a body temperature that low is an emergency situation.

It's Brutal, But It's Been Worse
While this will likely be the coldest day in more than a decade, it is not close to setting a record. 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.

CBS 2's Ed Curran, Kristyn Hartman, Joanie Lum and Suzanne Le Mignot, and the STNG Wire, contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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