December’s open among the coldest in over a century

Midwesterners are accustomed to cold winter weather. But, this December’s opening week ranks among the coldest on the books in more than a century. Chicago’s 18.3° Dec. 1-6 average is more than 15° below the long term average temperature and has moved from 9th to 6th coldest on record since 1871.
Area residents away from the city and lake side locations must deal with sub-zero temperatures early Wednesday, readings not typical here for another three weeks. It’s the most intense chill here in at least a year—and, at colder locations, in nearly two years—since the -6° low on Jan. 31, 2004.
Chicago’s 17° high Tuesday missed the record for coldest daytime maximum (16° in 1893) by only 1°. Residents of Wisconsin weren’t as fortunate. The highs at Madison (11°), Wausau (5°), Marshfield (5°) and Oshkosh (11°) tied or broke the record for coldest max temperature Tuesday.