Dec 22, 2008 10:52 pm US/Central
Frightful: Wind Chills Plummet To Nearly 30 Below
Frigid Temps Cause Multiple Accidents; More Snow On Way
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Chicagoans do the best they can given the sub-zero temps on the first day of winter.
CBS
Temperatures hovered around the zero mark for the second straight day. High winds, blowing snow, bitter cold temperatures and wind chills approaching 30 below zero greeted Chicagoans on Monday.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports that people are already tired of the winter and are gearing up for what looks like it's going to be a very long, cold season. The wind chill is way below zero for the second night in a row.
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather and a wind chill advisory for northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. The wind chill advisory remains in effect until noon Monday. Winds were already diminishing on Monday.
And to make matters worse, snow is on the way--up to a half foot could fall on Chicagoland starting on Tuesday afternoon.
The wicked cold created slick conditions on the expressways early Monday. CBS 2's Kris Habermehl reported dozens of accidents, creating backups and even closing the Elgin-O'Hare Expy.
The big freeze began on Sunday, appropriately enough perhaps for people used to harsh winters, on the first official day of the winter season.
Snowfall was scant after the frigid air mass rolled in, but ice and high winds whipped up snow along roadways and made driving hazardous for holiday travelers.
But the worst danger was from the cold -- exacerbated by 20-to-30 mile-per-hour winds that drove wind chills to 25 degrees below zero, or even lower, according to the National Weather Service. The mercury fell to minus-4 degrees Sunday night.
On Sunday, the city activated its Joint Operations Command Center. Emergency Management officials say they made the decision after wind chills hit 30 degrees below zero. They also activated an automatic phone message system that called residents to warn them of the cold.
The decision puts representatives from all of the city's cold weather related departments in one room where they can better coordinate response efforts.
Streets and Sanitation crews dispatched salt spreaders on all the city's 3,000 miles of side streets, but they said it's important for people to know that salt alone can't clear the streets.
In fact, Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Michael Picardi says people should not expect to see the pavement on side streets until the weather warms up. He also asked people who dig out their cars not to put the snow and ice back in the street.
Chicagoans Try To Cope
"I'm wearing a lot of clothes – two pair of pants and two sweaters and a turtleneck and my big boots, so I don't feel much," one woman said.
Not everyone let the cold scare them indoors. Some almost welcomed it.
"We got our hot chocolate and our gloves on, and we're just gonna bear the cold," a woman said.
"It's great! I love Christmas! The weather don't stop me, I love it," a man said.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports that although the sun was shining brightly Monday, it wasn't giving off much heat.
On Lower Wacker Drive, some of the hardcore homeless continued to tough it out outdoors.
That's where CBS 2 found 30-year-old Melissa Menley who's been homeless for several months. To make matters worse she is eight-and-a-half months pregnant.
But after the coldest night of the year, she said she was determined to come in from the cold.
"I'm going to try to go in. I got a place, I called my mom last night so I'm gonna go in to my mom's house," Menley said.
"It's a very frustrating situation for all of us, for our commissioner and for all of us that do this work," said Jim LoBianco, Dept. of Human Services. "But it is the tension between civil rights and common sense."
LoBianco says that Menley had been in a treatment center but recently left with her boyfriend. He says he later today drove out and found Menley and her boyfriend and he says he drove them to a train station where the couple boarded a train headed to Gary. That's where he says Menley's mom had agreed to take her daughter back in.
The city of big shoulders looked more like the city of steaming waters Sunday as clouds billowed from the lake and from the river as the temperatures sunk well below zero. At a bus stop, CBS 2 found a couple of Canadians who found the weather anything but agreeable.
"It's okay, as long as you bundle up, it's all good," said one.
"It's not okay... even if you bundle up," said another.
CBS 2 would have asked others, but they were gone in a flash -- happy to get out of winds that made it feel like more than 25 degrees below zero.
"It's so cold, it feels like needles are pricking my eyes," grumbled 19-year-old Ashley Sarpong of Chicago, a fur-lined hood pulled around her face as she crossed a wind-swept bridge that crossed the Chicago River. "This is the coldest I've felt all year."
People waiting for the bus were happy when it arrived -- very happy.
Then there were the people that were working, like Tony White, who was doing some heavy lifting just trying to free his car from a wall of ice left by a snow plow.
"Who wants to watch football on Sunday anyway," White said.
He said he figured it would take him two hours of back breaking work to free his car from the ice that covered it.
The city says of the 5,000 beds for the homeless, 600 went unused last night. City officials say they need your help in finding those in need. If you know anyone who might need a welfare check because of a lack of heat or food, call 311.
Portage, Indiana activated the city's warming centers due to the extreme cold and the loss of power to major portions of the city. To utilize the warming centers contact the City of Portage Dispatch Center at 762-3122. Temporary warming centers include any of the three Portage Fire stations. The main long-term center will be at Woodland Park.
The Crown Point Emergency Management Agency opened a warming shelter located at 103 E. Clark (Crown Point Civic Center) for those in need as well.
The gusty winds and cold did however add to power-outage headaches.
ComEd says Sunday 61,000 people lost their service when high winds blew three branches into power lines. That's in addition to the thousands who lost their electricity on Friday. At last check, 10,400 did not have service.
Anyone experiencing power interruptions is urged to call ComEd immediately at 800-Edison-1 to report the outage, the release said.
Temperatures are expected to climb to 10 degrees Monday with 15 mph wind gusts that will create minus-23 wind chills. The mercury will fall to 2 degrees Monday night with wind chill values near minus-6, the weather service said.
The bitter cold is expected to break Tuesday, when temperatures will climb to 25 degrees. However, the weather service is predicting a 70 percent chance of snow the day the air warms.
Last-Minute Shoppers Brave the Weather
Experts say people should stay out of the weather if they can. But if you have to venture out make sure your skin is completely covered, because the wind can combine with the cold to freeze skin in minutes.
"Don't let common sense become uncommon in this season. If you don't have to go outside, stay in. If you do have to go outside, make those trips as short as possible," said Dr. Mason of The Office of Emergency Management and Communication (OEMC).
Many out on the streets Sunday for last-minute holiday shopping took those instructions to heart. Despite the bitter cold, many people chose to brave the elements to get their holiday shopping done.
Some shoppers tell CBS 2 it's the perfect time to get to the store, without having to battle long lines at the checkout.
The stream of shoppers winding around the Magnificent Mile Sunday didn't have their shopping wrapped up, but they did wrap up their faces due to the extreme weather.
Some die-hard holiday shoppers say the only way to beat the termperature is to have a game plan first.
"Park as close as possible, and run to every store," said one shopper.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli, Pamela Jones, the Associated Press, and STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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