National Weather Service

March Freeze to Bring More Potentially Record-Breaking Cold

Wind chill values could reach the negative teens yet again on Thursday

It may be March, but winter is not over yet.

More potentially record-breaking cold temperatures are in the forecast for Chicago this week, beginning Wednesday.

Temperatures reached the high 30s Tuesday while rain, snow and sleet pelted the city, but temperatures will decrease overnight as the icy system moves out.

The high temperature for Wednesday is 17 degrees, which would tie for the record lowest high temperature set in 1890, according to the National Weather Service. The predicted low for Wednesday falls at a frigid -2 degrees.

The polar air is expected to stick around on Thursday when the high will be just 15 degrees. The record lowest high temperature for March 5 was set in 1901 when it only reached 12 degrees.

Wind chill temperatures for Thursday will once again reach the negative teens for the Chicago area, feeling like -14 degrees at O'Hare.

These numbers are far from the average for this time of year, which is in the high 30s and low 40s. They are even farther from the record high temperatures -- 73 degrees for March 4 and 75 degrees for March 5, according to the National Weather Service.

The early March cold snap is expected to break on Friday, and the weekend could see the first spring weather of the year.

The high for Friday is expected to be right around freezing, which is still below the average. By Saturday, however, temperatures will reach the high 30s and low 40s with partly sunny skies and no precipitation in the forecast.

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