Scott Seaman wished he’d doubled the three layers of clothing he wore Thursday as he walked to his job in Chicago, where temperatures did not top zero even as bright sunshine swathed downtown skyscrapers.
Scott Seaman wished he’d doubled the three layers of clothing he wore Thursday as he walked to his job in Chicago, where temperatures did not top zero even as bright sunshine swathed downtown skyscrapers. "I feel like a frozen icicle," Seaman said. "I’m 46, but I feel like 66 today. I’m moving slow." Hundreds of schools across Illinois closed for the day, and some government buildings shut down as dangerously cold air gripped the state. The Chicago Park District closed its outdoor ice rinks for the day as a safety precaution, with promises of free skating on Friday. "We haven’t been this cold in over a decade," said National Weather Service meteorologist Casey Sullivan. Thursday morning’s minus 11 reading — without wind chill — at O’Hare International Airport was the coldest daytime temperature recorded there since 1996, when it got down to minus 14. The weather service predicted even colder temperatures overnight, with forecasts of minus 20, without wind chill, in the western suburbs. "We’re not out of this yet," Sullivan said. Clear skies meant smooth flying weather at Chicago’s two airports, said Gregg Cunningham, a Chicago aviation department spokesman. No delays or weather-related cancellations were reported at O’Hare and Midway, he said. The weather service issued a wind chill warning through Friday morning, meaning that not taking precautions risks frostbite, hypothermia or death. In eastern and central Illinois, where highs were expected to be right around zero, many schools told students to stay home. Champaign officials’ decision was influenced by an increase in the numbers of students taking buses to school this year, district Assistant Superintendent Beth Shepperd said, something she attributes to the weakening economy. "They’re waiting 30 minutes at a bus stop; there’s the fear of frostbite and hypothermia," Shepperd said. "We also have more children walking to school without adequate outerwear." Other communities closed government offices. In Danville, the Vermillion County Courthouse shut down. About 2,100 Illinois customers of the utility Ameren were without power just before noon Thursday because of downed power lines, company spokesman Leigh Morris said. Most were around Belleville, just east of St. Louis, and near Decatur and had been without power since early to mid morning. He wasn’t sure when electricity would be restored. The cold may have caused the lines to snap, Morris said, though he could not say for sure. Associated Press Writer David Mercer contributed to this report from Champaign.
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