Wednesday morning saw some of the Chicago area’s lowest temperatures in recent years, with lows dropping to more than 20 degrees below zero in some locations.
The wind made things even colder in some locations, with wind chills dropping to more than 40 degrees below zero, according to officials.
The lowest temperature recorded in the Chicago area was reported in Rochelle, where the mercury hit 23 degrees below zero on Wednesday morning. According to the National Weather Service, the wind chill in Rochelle hit an astonishing 40 degrees below zero at that time.
That still wasn’t the coldest wind chill in the area, however. That distinction went to the reporting station at Aurora Airport, where a wind chill of 41 degrees below zero was recorded. The low temperature at the airport was negative-22, according to NWS officials.
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A wind chill of 32 degrees below zero was recorded in DeKalb, while in West Chicago a low temperature of negative-16 produced a wind chill of 29 degrees below zero.
In the city of Chicago, the low temperature was recorded at 6 degrees below zero at O’Hare, while at Midway the temperature was one degree higher at negative-5.
The reading in Chicago was certainly frigid, but it did not set a new record. That record currently stands at 16 degrees below zero for Jan. 26, and that mark was set all the way back in 1897.
In Rockford, the mercury dropped to 18 degrees below zero, which was just shy of besting the mark of 21 degrees below zero, which was set at the airport in 2019.
Here are the registered low temperatures across the area:
Arlington Heights: -6 degrees
Aurora: -12 degrees
Aurora Airport: -22 degrees
Batavia: -10 degrees
Bull Valley: -15 degrees
Calumet City: -8 degrees
Cary: -13 degrees
Chicago (Loop): -6 degrees
Chicago (Midway Airport): -5 degrees
Chicago (O’Hare Airport): -6 degrees
Coal City: -11 degrees
Crete: -14 degrees
Crown Point: -9 degrees
Crystal Lake: -12 degrees
DeKalb: -18 degrees
DuPage Airport: -16 degrees
Dwight: -9 degrees
Dyer: -11 degrees
Fowler: -10 degrees
Frankfort: -11 degrees
Gary Airport: -6 degrees
Geneva: -13 degrees
Hammond: -8 degrees
Harvard: -21 degrees
Herbert: -19 degrees
Highland Park: -11 degrees
Homer Glen: -11 degrees
Joliet Airport: -15 degrees
Kankakee Airport: -9 degrees
Lansing Airport: -10 degrees
Lemont: -9 degrees
Lombard: -10 degrees
Malta: -12 degrees
Marengo: -22 degrees
McHenry: -11 degrees
Mokena: -10 degrees
Morris Airport: -15 degrees
Mundelein: -11 degrees
Munster: -10 degrees
Naperville: -5 degrees
Odell: -20 degrees
Park Forest: -8 degrees
Paw Paw: -15 degrees
Peru Airport: -8 degrees
Pontiac: -8 degrees
Rensselaer Airport: -15 degrees
Rockford Airport: –18 degrees
Rochelle Airport: -23 degrees
Romeoville: -8 degrees
St. Charles: -19 degrees
Stelle: -11 degrees
Valparaiso Airport: -9 degrees
Wadsworth: -15 degrees
Warrenville: -8 degrees
Waukegan: -7 degrees
Woodridge: -7 degrees
