The coldest wind chills of the season will impact the Chicago area overnight, with some locations dropping to as much as 25 degrees below zero early Friday morning.
A wind chill advisory is now in effect for several counties in northern Illinois, including McHenry, DeKalb, Kane, LaSalle, Kendall, Will and Kankakee counties. That advisory will run through 9 a.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
The advisory was issued as air temperatures drop down to the low single-digits, and winds will make things feel even chillier.
In fact, wind chills in the far western suburbs could drop to 25 degrees below zero overnight, and will be scarcely warmer than that for the morning commute. The far southern suburbs will likely see similar temperatures, and in the city of Chicago, wind chills could still hit 10 degrees below zero.
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Those kind of wind chills can cause frostbite to exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes, according to the National Weather Service, and residents are urged to bundle up and to spend as little time outdoors as possible.
Winds will be more calm on Friday, but that will do little to provide relief from the cold, as highs are still only expected to reach the mid-teens in most of the area.
There is, however, some temperature relief on the horizon, with highs rebounding into the 30s on Saturday and Sunday. That will come at a price however, as mixed precipitation and rain are expected to arrive on Saturday evening.
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Once that weather system moves out, the Chicago area will have one more day of well-below-average temperatures to deal with, as highs will once again be in the teens on Monday, but then temps will slowly begin to warm up, likely reaching back into the 30s by Wednesday.
