National Weather Service officials warned of bone-chilling temperatures hitting the Chicago area Wednesday night and staying until early Friday.
Officials said the artic air will cover portions of north-central and northeast Illinois, and northwest Indiana. Windchills are expected to plummet to negative 10 to negative 20 late Wednesday night.
The artic air is expected to stick around Thursday and into Friday.
The city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications is working with the National Weather Service to monitor conditions during this period, a news release said.
There is a 40% chance of snow Wednesday before artic air infiltrates the region. Officials are expecting patchy blowing snow Wednesday morning with southwest winds expected to shift to the northwest Wednesday afternoon becoming blustery with gusts up to 25 mph, officials said.
Current morning conditions at O’Hare International Airport registered as overcast at 26 degrees with a wind chill of negative six degrees. Farther south, at Midway Airport, conditions are similar at 24 degrees with a wind chill of negative four.