Chicago weather: Brace for bitter cold
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago could see record lows this week as temperatures are expected to drop below zero Wednesday and Thursday.
"I'm over it," Katherine Rouse said. "I love Chicago. It's a beautiful city, but it's way, way too cold. I'm headed to Vegas this weekend, so just in time."
Already fed up with the cold weather, Rouse will escape just as the real temperature drop comes into play. Starting Wednesday, bitter cold sets in for the next couple of days.
"I'm not coming out for the next two days," Homer Bryant said. "I'm hibernating. Yes, I am."
Chicago weather could break a couple of records this week. Taft thinks Chicago will hit -8 on Thursday, which would break the current low temperature record for February 19, which is -7.
"Then when we hit 2 degrees for a high on Thursday, that will break the coldest high temperature that was set back in 1936," Taft said.
With frigid arctic air on the horizon, the Illinois Tollway has activated 24-hour road patrols. Beginning Tuesday, patrol teams will scour roadways for stranded drivers. If you run out of gas, get a flat, your battery dies, or you need any other kind of help call *999.
City officials will open warming centers. They warn that hypothermia can set in within minutes of exposure when temperatures dip that low.
The cold also hampered Chicago firefighters in the Chatham neighborhood. No one was hurt when a vacant building burned near 79th and Drexel Tuesday morning.
A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for Elkhart, LaPorte, Lagrange, St. Joseph Counties in Ind. until 7 p.m. Thursday.
