Chicago weather history: Look back at coldest day on record in 1985

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Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Take a look back 35 years to Chicago's coldest day on record
Take a look back 35 years to Chicago's coldest day on recordHere is a look at Chicago's coldest day on record. (Photo above: January 19, 2020)

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago has seen some cold days, but not quite as cold as it was in 1985.

Take a look back at some of Chicago's most frigid temps.

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After the weekend's winter storm swooped in the first bitter cold of 2020, take a look back at some of Chicago's most frigid temps.

The Polar Vortex of 2019 was a close record breaker when an arctic chill dropped temperatures to -23 and -21 degrees for two days in a row on January 30 and 31, causing the city to ice over.

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But it was on January 20, 1985 when Chicago marked its coldest day ever! The Chicago River steamed and cars frozen in place when temperatures throughout the city reached as low as 27 below zero.

RELATED: Flashback: Massive blizzard took over Chicago area in 1979

More than 21 inches of snow was dumped in Illinois and northwest Indiana over a two-day period.
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