Chicago Weather

School closings list: More than 100 Chicago-area schools closed due to dangerous cold

More than 100 schools, daycares and colleges across the entire Chicago area were closed Tuesday due to the dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills

More than 100 schools, colleges and daycares across Northeastern Illinois have announced closures or shifts to e-learning Tuesday as dangerously cold wind chills as low as -30 sweep across the Chicago area.

The closures range from the city to the suburbs, including elementary, middle and high schools in Palos Hills, Oak Lawn, Lyons, Calumet City, Crystal Lake, Elgin, Carpentersville, Antioch and Grayslake.

According to Chicago Public Schools 2024-25 calendar, CPS students had an already scheduled day off Tuesday for "Teacher Institute Day."

Multiple private schools and daycares were also closed, the Emergency Closing Center reported. The latest list of closures can be found here (NOTE: If you are accessing this link from our app, please go to your mobile browser).

The cold also forced Amtrak to cancel some trains lines in and out of Chicago, including The Wolverine, The Borealis and the Hiawatha, and led to more than 40 cancellations at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

NBC 5 reporter Lisa Chavarria early Tuesday said inside the airport, it didn't feel much warmer.

"Employees even have their coats, hats and gloves on," Chavarria said. "With it being -7 here, it's frigid inside."

As of 5:20 a.m., temperatures across Northeastern Illinois were below zero, the NBC 5 Storm Team said, with readings ranging from -5 to -10 degrees. Wind chills were even colder, NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman said, with "feels-like" temperatures of -29 in DeKalb, -27 in DuPage and Morris, -24 in Waukegan and -20 in Kankakee.

"Bundle up from head to toe" NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman said early Tuesday morning. "The Arctic cold will peak this morning....We are in the heart of the brutal cold right now."

According to the National Weather Service, an extreme cold warning was in effect until 12 p.m. for Lake, McHenry, DeKalb, Kane and LaSalle Counties in Illinois, and Kenosha County in Wisconsin. In those parts, dangerously cold wind chills around 30 degrees below zero "could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes."

In DuPage, Cook, Kendall, Grundy, Will and Kankakee Counties in Illinois and across parts of Northwest Indiana, a cold weather advisory was in effect until 2 p.m., the NWS said.

"The coldest wind chills are expected through this morning," the NWS said. "Winds chills down between -20°F to -35°F can be expected area wide under this arctic air mass. If you must go out: cover all exposed skin as frostbite can occur in under 20-30 minutes."

Tuesday's high temperature in the afternoon will be in the single digits for most areas, Roman said, with wind chills easing up slightly, between -10 and -20. Some relief was on the way Wednesday, with highs in the 20s, Roman said.

"A high of 25 will feel a lot warmer than the -25 we are feeling right now," Roman said, of Wednesday's conditions.

Wednesday could also see chances for scattered snow showers "at any point of the day," Roman said, though totals aren't expected to be more than an inch

By the weekend, temperatures will be above-average, Roman said, climbing into the 30s.

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