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Hunker down Chicago: Subzero temps for next 45 hours could be one of city's longest streaks
Tony BriscoeContact ReporterChicago Tribune
Chicagoans might have a new appreciation for single-digit temperatures because Tuesday afternoon will mark the start of a 40-plus hour stretch of subzero weather, according to the National Weather Service.
On Tuesday, Chicago is expected see a high temperature of 5 degrees at O’Hare International Airport. However, about 6 p.m. Tuesday, temperatures are forecast to fall below zero enroute to lows of around minus 20.
Temperatures might not recover to zero until around 3 p.m. Thursday — a possible 45-hour stretch of below-zero temperatures that could rank among the longest.
If the forecast holds, this would be tied fifth longest such stint.
However, the highs at O’Hare on Thursday afternoon are expected to be close to zero, meaning if temperatures fall short of that mark, Chicagoans might have to wait an additional 12 hours until Friday morning, according to weather service meteorologist Ricky Castro.
The record remains 98 hours between Dec. 22 and Dec. 25, 1983. But Castro said he’s still impressed that this could outlast the 37-hour stretch during the polar vortex of January 2014.
“It’s amazing that this one is going to be worse,” Castro said.
Record below-zero streaks in Chicago
Tony BriscoeContact ReporterChicago Tribune
Chicagoans might have a new appreciation for single-digit temperatures because Tuesday afternoon will mark the start of a 40-plus hour stretch of subzero weather, according to the National Weather Service.
On Tuesday, Chicago is expected see a high temperature of 5 degrees at O’Hare International Airport. However, about 6 p.m. Tuesday, temperatures are forecast to fall below zero enroute to lows of around minus 20.
Temperatures might not recover to zero until around 3 p.m. Thursday — a possible 45-hour stretch of below-zero temperatures that could rank among the longest.
If the forecast holds, this would be tied fifth longest such stint.
However, the highs at O’Hare on Thursday afternoon are expected to be close to zero, meaning if temperatures fall short of that mark, Chicagoans might have to wait an additional 12 hours until Friday morning, according to weather service meteorologist Ricky Castro.
The record remains 98 hours between Dec. 22 and Dec. 25, 1983. But Castro said he’s still impressed that this could outlast the 37-hour stretch during the polar vortex of January 2014.
“It’s amazing that this one is going to be worse,” Castro said.
Record below-zero streaks in Chicago
- Dec. 22, 1983: 98 hours
- Feb. 1, 1996: 66 hours
- Jan. 8, 1982: 60 hours
- Jan. 19, 1985: 48 hours
- Jan. 17, 1994: 45 hours
. **** is miserable
