Community Corner

Colder Than the North Pole: Just How Low Did Area Temps, Wind Chill Values Go?

Use our map to find snowfall totals from Jan. 4 through 5 and the lowest temperatures and wind chill values for Jan. 6 for communities throughout the Chicago suburbs and Illinois/Indiana.

The Chicago area got hit Monday by dangerously cold temperatures, which followed a heavy snowfall Sunday for portions of the area. 

  • Use our map above to find snowfall totals from Jan. 4 through 5 and the lowest temperatures and wind chill values for Jan. 6 for communities throughout the Chicago suburbs and Illinois/Indiana.
The treacherous weather conditions closed schools, caused delays for Metra and wreaked havoc on some roads. 

Today also went into the record books for Chicago as the coldest Jan. 6 to date with an official reading of -16 degrees, which broke the former record of -14 degrees set in 1894 and 1988.  

To put that into perspective, the North Pole temperatures did not come close to our lowest readings Monday with the northernmost point on Earth reaching a low of 1 degree and high of 16 degrees, according to weather.com.

But just how low did temperatures and wind chill values dip for other communities throughout the Chicago area? 

In McHenry, the National Weather Service recorded one of the lowest temperatures for the area Monday at -20 degrees. Meanwhile, the Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove had a wind chill value of -47 at 7:52 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. 

Most of the lowest temperatures in the Chicago area ranged from -15 to -20 while the lowest wind chill values ranged from -41 to -47, according to the NWS. 

The frigid cold came after several inches of snow fell on Jan. 4 and 5 in some communities in Illinois and Indiana. 

Park Forest in Cook County saw the highest snowfall totals during this storm, recording 14.6 inches over the two days, according to information collected as of 9:30 a.m. Monday by the National Weather Service. The Park Forest snowfall total included nine inches from 6 a.m. on Sunday until 6 a.m. on Monday. 

Here is a look at the highest snowfall totals for communities throughout the suburbs from Jan. 4-5:
  • PARK FOREST (COOK): 14.6
  • HOMER GLEN 1ENE (WILL): 13.5   
  •   LINCOLNWOOD 2E (COOK): 13.2     
  •   HARWOOD HEIGHTS 2NNE (COOK): 12.6   
  •   OHARE (COOK): 11.7     
  •   CHICAGO 6ESE (COOK): 11.6    
  •   CRETE 3E (WILL): 11.1     
  •   ELMHURST 1ESE (DU PAGE): 11.0     
  •   PLAINFIELD 5SW (KENDALL): 10.3     
  •   OAK BROOK (DU PAGE): 9.6     
  •   MIDWAY COOP (COOK).: 9.6     
  •   LOCKPORT 1SE (WILL): 9.5     
  •   WINFIELD (DU PAGE): 9.0     
  •   NEW LENOX 3E (WILL): 8.2     
  •   WESTMONT 1SSE (DU PAGE): 8.2     
  •   PARK RIDGE (COOK): 8.1     
  •   ORLAND HILLS 1SE (COOK): 8.0    
  •   OAK PARK 2S (COOK): 8.0    
  •   JOLIET 2N (WILL): 7.9   
  •  AURORA 4SE (DU PAGE): 7.9 
  •  GENEVA 1SSW (KANE): 7.6  
  •   NEW LENOX 4SE (WILL): 7.5   
  •   PALOS PARK 1SW (COOK): 7.5    
  •   NORTH AURORA 2NE (KANE): 7.2    
  •   GENEVA 3WSW (KANE)............................7.2     (2)
  •   HOFFMAN ESTATES 5W (COOK): 7.2     
  •   MONTGOMERY 1SSE (KENDALL): 7.0     
  •   BOLINGBROOK 3NE (DU PAGE): 7.0     
  •   WORTH (COOK): 7.0     
  •   CHICAGO RIDGE (COOK): 7.0     
  •   WILLOW SPRINGS (COOK): 6.9     
  •   ELK GROVE VILLAGE 2WSW (COOK): 6.8     
  •   BARTLETT 1SSE (DU PAGE).......................6.8     (2)
  •   SCHAUMBURG 3WSW (COOK): 6.8     
  •   HOMER GLEN 4WNW (WILL): 6.7     
  •   ARLINGTON HEIGHTS 2NNW (COOK): 6.7     
  •   BOTANIC GARDENS (COOK): 6.7     
  •   BATAVIA 1WNW (KANE): 6.7     
  •   PLAINFIELD (WILL): 6.6     
  •   ELK GROVE VILLAGE 1ESE (COOK): 6.6     
  •   JOLIET LOCK/DAM (WILL): 6.5     
  •   HIGHWOOD 1S (LAKE): 6.5     
  •   INVERNESS 2S (COOK): 6.4     
  •   ELGIN (KANE): 6.4     
See more snowfall totals on the National Weather Service website.

NOTE: The above map includes information from the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service did not provide data on wind chill values and lowest temperatures for all of the communities in the Chicago suburbs as of the publish time of this map. In addition, Patch.com only included some of the highest snowfall totals provided by the National Weather Service on this map. Visit the NWS website for more information.


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