Science & Nature

There’s Light at End of Chicago’s Frigid Tunnel, National Weather Service Says

Temperatures in Chicago haven’t been above freezing for 10 days, but the National Weather Service said there’s light at the end of this frigid tunnel.

Chicagoans will still have to endure several more days of bitter cold before temperatures begin trending upward. Expect a gradual warm-up — relatively speaking — by the weekend.

It won’t be shorts and flip-flop weather, but closer to seasonal norms, according to the weather service.

(National Weather Service Chicago)

While those 60-degree days of early January might feel like a lifetime ago, the current arctic snap has nothing on deep freezes from the past.

The winter of 1976-77 takes the prize for relentless cold, notching a record 43 consecutive days of below-freezing temperatures, set between Dec. 28 and Feb. 8.

Coming in second is a 33-day streak set in 1985, between Jan. 15 and Feb. 16. 

Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]

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