Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in Northern Cook County, Illinois

An arctic cold front moved across northern Illinois during the late morning and afternoon of December 22nd. Temperatures were in the lower to middle 30s ahead of the front and fell into the single digits within hours after the cold front passed. Low temperatures by the morning of December 23rd ranged from 5 below to 12 below zero. High temperatures on December 23rd remained in the low single digits below zero. Winds gusted as high as 55 mph through the morning of December 23rd and continued gusting to 40 mph through the evening of December 23rd. The combination of strong winds and sub zero temperatures produced wind chills between 30 below and 42 below zero. While temperatures slowly warmed to near zero by the morning of December 24th, winds continued gusting to 35 mph. Wind chills finally warmed above 20 below zero by the late morning of December 24th.