Chicago weather forecast: Windy, snowy conditions in parts of area Wednesday evening
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Snow and wind affected the evening commute in parts of the Chicago area Wednesday.
The biting winds and plunging temperatures ushered in a mid-week blast of winter.
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The squalls only lasted 30 minutes to an hour in any one spot. Passing lighter snow was also possible in the evening for parts of the area. Squalls were possible from 3 to 6 p.m. for much of the Chicago area and from 4 to 7 p.m. for the south suburbs and northwest Indiana, ABC7 Chicago meteorologist Larry Mowry said earlier Wednesday.
"Cold. I mean, just even now feeling like I'm not moving, so it's not keeping my blood going, you know," said Jay Daughtry, who was out walking in cold.
The howling winds knocked the wind out of pedestrians crossing downtown bridges.
"We all sighed and exclaimed, and yeah, it was a little bit of a punch in the gut," said Jenn Daughtry, who was also out walking in cold.
"It's piercing. It's cold," pedestrian Denny Lengkong said. "It's, I don't know, take your soul away, I guess."
In the north suburbs, snow made matters worse. Drivers encountered blowing conditions on Grand Avenue in Gurnee.
Ahead of the extreme cold there was a water main break in Park Ridge, which sent repair crews scrambling.
With the overnight temperatures further testing infrastructure and equipment, Chicago officials are reminding landlords that rental units must be heated to 68 degrees or higher.
That is cold comfort to residents at the Indian Trails Apartments in West Pullman, where the heat has been out for weeks because of a boiler issue. Some residents were forced to don blankets and turn on their stove burners, which isn't safe.
"It feels like a freezer in my apartment, resident Earnestine Tolbert said. "The floors are cold. Like I said, I can't go in there and do my daily rituals because it's too cold."
As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, 6,414 ComEd customers were without power in northern Illinois, and in Northwest Indiana, 18,000 NIPSCO customers were without power, the companies said.
At Chicago's airports, as of 9 p.m. Wednesday, eight flights were canceled at O'Hare and two were canceled at Midway, according to city data. Both airports had average delays of 15 minutes or less.
A National Weather Service Wind Advisory went into effect at 2 p.m., and was scheduled to last until midnight.
Thursday is forecast to be very cold, with wind chills from -5 to -10 during the morning.
