The early arrival of cold temperatures, powerful wind and the Chicago area's first snowflakes on Monday have given residents a largely-unwanted winter preview.
The National Weather Service issued the region's first Winter Weather Advisory of the season for Porter County and Jasper County, though they were canceled late Monday night after the system veered off to the east, striking St. Joseph County.
Harsh winter weather visits Portage, Indiana regularly, with its location on Lake Michigan bringing plenty of wind and lake-effect snow, but this early taste of winter was still unwelcome.
"It just ain’t right, it’s not Halloween yet and it already feels like Christmas." said Dave Faitak.
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Temperatures dipped into the low 40,s with wind consistently topping 20 miles per hour. Several shoppers in the Strack & Van Til grocery store parking lot had winter coats on and their hoods up to stay warm.
"I’m not ready for that," said Patrice Williams. "You expect it in December and you expect it in January, but now? Not right now."
Williams said she could handle what winter has to offer, but the early arrival of the cold and snowflakes makes the conditions more difficult to endure.
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"I’m waiting until after Thanksgiving," said Williams. "Let me eat my Thanksgiving food first."
Many other shoppers were looking forward to several more weeks of typical autumn weather before having to put up with the worst parts of winter in the Midwest.
"It’s very depressing, very depressing," said Angela Blackburn. "[I] definitely would rather it wait a little longer to come about being this cold."
"Last week I had the top down," said Faitak, standing next to his convertible. "This week, different story."
