Chicagoans shiver through 16 hours of sub-zero chills
Not since Dec. 7—a week shy of two months ago—has it been as cold in Chicago. For 16 hours, a biting WNW wind produced a sub-zero “feel” to the frigid late winter air here as evidenced by the wind chills. The city’s official 18° high occurred well before sunrise at 12:44 a.m. Daytime readings struggled to make 17°.
More lake snow hit Michigan Tuesday bringing Saugatuck’s, expanding snowpack to 17.5”. Nearby Holland reported 10”.
The expansive invasion of cold air across the U.S. began easing in Florida—a state gripped by an unseasonable late winter chill in recent days. Temperatures soar to the mid 80s by later this week in Miami to the joy of Super Bowl-bound football fans.
Meanwhile, snowbound Alaska has warmed dramatically in the new pattern. King Salmon--where readings a year ago bottomed out at -37°—soared to a record 53° Tuesday.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist