Expand / Collapse search
☰

Putting Chicago's cold snap in context

By
Updated  January 25, 2022 11:03am CST
Tim's Weather Takeaways
FOX 32 Chicago

Chicago - Another round of Arctic air has arrived.  Tuesday morning's lows were mostly in the single digits either above or below zero. The 3° low at O'Hare was the second coldest morning of the season so far. The worst is yet to come. Wednesday morning's low at O'Hare is forecast to dip to around -7°. That would be the coldest of the season so far and the coldest in nearly a year. The last time O'Hare was that cold was on February 7th of 2021. If O'Hare dips to -8° it would be the coldest temperature there in nearly two years. 

The combination of sub-zero temperatures Wednesday morning with a light northwest breeze will make for some brutal "feels like temperatures" or wind chills. IBM's GRAF model has wind chills around daybreak Wednesday between -20° to -32°. A wind chill advisory kicks in at 8 pm tonight and continues until noon Wednesday.

Wind chills on Tuesday morning started off sub-zero and should remain there all day. The forecast for wind chills at Schaumburg has them dropping from -8° at 7 this evening to -18° by 6 AM Wednesday.

There is hope though for a thaw soon. The National Blend Of Models has O'Hare's high thawing to 31° on Thursday. Highs could climb above freezing again next Monday and stay there through next Thursday.

Our recent snows (5.7" at O'Hare over the two-day period of Sunday and Monday) and this bitter cold snap should literally push this winter into a more miserable category. The Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index or winter "misery index" has us in the "mild" category at this point of the 2021-2022 winter. That is the least severe category possible. We are right on the cusp of the "moderate" category. The categories continue to get worse from there including "average", "severe" and finally "extreme". The index is based on "the intensity and persistence of cold weather, the amount of snow, and the amount and persistence of snow on the ground". The most recent measurement of the index does not include O'Hare's recent snow or today's bitter cold. This should push us into the "moderate" category.