CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - In midst of arctic air mass, the Chicago area will experience a third straight day of bitter cold, with today the most frigid one yet.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Cold Weather Advisory for most area counties. It’s in effect until midnight tonight.
The morning saw the coldest conditions, with air temps below zero and wind chills more than 20 below zero.
According to the NWS, wind chills sat at or around 30 below zero for most of the morning, possibly causing frostbite in as quickly as 10 minutes on exposed skins.
This afternoon and evening, temperatures will barely reach above zero, the NWS says. This will be the worst of it.
Although wind chills will remain below zero, the NWS forecasting wind chills of 20 below zero to continue tonight.
Wednesday, the NWS says temps will climb into the 20s and that will be replicated for the rest of the work week.
Come the weekend, AccuWeather says we could even see the mid 30s.
With this dangerous cold, the City of Chicago will open warming centers from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Other facilities, such as libraries, also serve as warming centers and sometimes have different or longer hours.
The following centers will be open beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday:
Garfield Community Service Center
10 S. Kedzie Ave.
(312) 746-5400
Englewood Community Service Center
1140 W. 79th St
(312) 747-0200
Martin Luther King Community Service Center
4314 S. Cottage Grove
(312) 747-2300
North Area Community Service Center
845 W. Wilson Ave.
(312) 744-2580
South Chicago Community Service Center
8650 S. Commercial Ave.
(312) 747-0500
Trina Davila Community Service Center
4312 W. North Ave.
(312) 744-2014
Cook County will keep three courthouse warming centers open continuously until Wednesday afternoon:
Skokie Courthouse: 5600 Old Orchard Road, Skokie
Maywood Courthouse: 1500 Maybrook Drive, Maywood
Markham Courthouse: 16501 S. Kedzie Ave., Markham
The county also is providing other warming centers. Here is a complete list.
The Salvation Army’s Freedom Center in Humboldt Park, 825 N. Christiana Ave., will also be open 24 hours as a warming shelter throughout the week. The organization also runs the 24-hour Shuttle of Hope, which works with the city’s 311 call center to transport people to shelters.
The extreme cold has affected several Metra train lines this morning and is causing significant switching problems on the tracks.
With this dangerous cold, it's an e-learning day for many Chicago area students.
Districts announcing closures included Harvey 152, Homewood 153, and Calumet City 155 and 156, along with several Chicago daycares and Hobart schools in Indiana.
Chicago Public Schools were already scheduled to be closed the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day for a school improvement day.
The Emergency Closing Center is maintaining an updated list of all school closures and delays
Sarah Herrera and the Chicago Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
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