The area is bracing for some of the coldest air so far this season.
With the mercury plummeting, Wednesday was no night for a leisurely stroll. The extreme cold is biting and brutal.
"Well, I don't have a hat today. It just penetrates everything," said Kate Christian, who was out walking in the cold. "I thought I was dressed warmly. I'm not."
Wind chills were already in the teens as evening commuters tried to make it home. The walk over the bridge to Union Station was a teeth-chattering, face-numbing just-put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other ordeal.
"It's bone-chilling right now. It's pretty rough down here," said Michael Murphy who was also out walking in the cold. "I hate to see it tomorrow morning."
Amid the arctic blast, people across the area could wake up to single-digit temperatures with wind chills below zero Thursday morning. Wind gusts were getting up to 35 mph Wednesday evening, ABC7 Meteorologist Larry Mowry said.
FULL FORECAST | Chicago weather: Sub-zero wind chills Thursday
The arctic cold was accompanied by a brief dusting of snow in some areas Wednesday afternoon.
At Deljo Heating & Cooling, the phones are already busy.
"It's been a little chaotic with no-heat calls coming in, emergency furnace repairs and such," Deljo Heating & Cooling General Manager Luke Weiden said.
Deljo recommends people replace their furnace's air filter, open all registers and keep the thermostat at a set temperature rather than on program.
"It makes the furnace not have to work as hard to recover back to that set temperature," Weiden said.
The City of Chicago and counties across the area are opening warming centers to help those in need during the dangerous winter conditions.
READ MORE | Chicago weather: City opens warming centers as bitterly cold temperatures move in