How Cold Did It Get?: Area Towns Break All-Time Cold Records

Just how low did that thermometer go in Chicago-area towns in recent days? For some area towns, temps dropped to the lowest ever in recorded history. Barrington, which saw a low temp of -28 degrees at 8 a.m. on Jan. 31, and Mundelein, which recorded -26 degrees at 7 a.m. on Jan. 31, are among the suburban towns that saw temperatures go down in the history books.

Rockford also set a new all-time low temp record with a reading of -31 degrees at the Rockford Airport at 7:14 a.m. on Jan. 31, according to the National Weather Service.

Here is a look at how low temps reached in other area towns over the past week’s polar vortex:

• Sugar Grove-Aurora Airport: -32 at 5:52 a.m. on Jan. 31
• West Chicago-DuPage Airport: -23 at 5:52 a.m. on Jan. 31
• McHenry Lock and Dam: -26 at 8 a.m. on Jan. 30 (the second coldest all-time reading)
• Batavia: -25 at 6 a.m. on Jan. 31
• Elgin: -25 at 7 a.m. on Jan. 31 (second coldest all-time reading)
• Romeoville-Lewis Airport: -23 at 8:15 a.m. on Jan. 30
• Chicago O’Haire: -23 at 7:51 a.m. on Jan. 30 (fifth coldest all-time temp)
• Waukegan Airport: -23 at 6:55 a.m. on Jan. 31
• Chicago Midway: -22 at 11:53 a.m. on Jan. 30
• Wheeling-Chicago Executive Airport: -21 at 8:52 a.m. on Jan. 30

And here is a look at the coldest wind chill values for the morning of Jan. 30:

• DeKalb Airport: -56
• West Chicago-DuPage Airport: -55
• Sugar Grove-Aurora Airport: -54
• Romeoville-Lewis Airport: -53
• Chicago O’Hare Airport: -52
• Chicago Midway Airport: -51
• Rockford Airport: -51
• Chicago-Northerly Island: -50
• Wheeling-Chicago Executive Airport: -48
• Joliet Airport: -46
• Waukegan Airport: -46

More via the National Weather Service website

Main Photo provided by Rachael Maraschino‎ and taken in St. Charles on Jan. 30