Wind-whipped lake snow in the Indiana snowbelt is but one facet of the season’s strongest blast of cold air expected to hit later Saturday night and Sunday. Temps here are to descend to the lowest December levels in four years—hovering between 10-15° Sunday as 20-30 m.p.h. winds send windchills tumbling below 0°. Bears fans at Sunday’s game face the coldest temps at a Soldier Field home game since 1993. Cold temps have been in stunningly short supply to date. Just one day since autumn began has failed to warm to at least 30°. That’s something that’s occurred remarkably infrequently by Dec. 18—just 20 times in 134 years of official records.
But what happens next week may be even more bonechilling—and may cover a greater swath of the U.S. A second bitterly cold outbreak—stronger than Sunday’s—could see nighttime lows near -30° from northern Montana east to northern Minnesota beyond midweek. Readings there will likely remain below 0° all day. And, the same air mass all but assures Chicago’s first subzero temperature by Friday morning.
— Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
