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Here’s How Low Wind Chills Will Plunge Overnight in the Chicago Area – NBC Chicago

Thursday started out with temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, but it will be several days before the Chicago area will see readings like that again, as dangerously-low wind chills are in the forecast in the coming hours.

While the snow associated with Thursday’s winter storm is expected to diminish across Illinois Thursday night and into early Friday morning, the wind is only expected to intensify, with gusts exceeding 50 miles per hour in some locations.

Sustained winds could reach 30-to-40 miles per hour in some spots, leading to bone-chilling wind chills as air temperatures continue to plummet behind a cold front that swept through the region.

According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, low overnight temperatures are expected to drop to 10-to-15 degrees below zero across the area, making travel especially hazardous and leading to dangerous conditions for those caught outdoors.

When bringing the wind into the equation, wind chills are going to get downright dangerous. According to current forecast models, wind chills will drop to at least 35-to-40 degrees below zero early Friday morning, and will likely stay within that range after daylight.

Those “feels-like” readings won’t rebound much during the afternoon, with most locations still experiencing wind chills of 20-to-25 degrees below zero for most of the day.

According to the National Weather Service, frostbite can set in on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes when exposed to wind chills of minus-35 or lower, or in 30 minutes or less when wind chills are 10-to-15 degrees below zero .

By Saturday morning, wind chills will still be 10-to-15 degrees below zero, but winds will finally start to diminish as the day moves along. The air temperatures are expected to be in the teens for the weekend, but wind chills will stay on the frigid side through the holiday.

Forecasters recommend that residents spend as little time outdoors as possible, and to bundle up adequately when they do venture outside.

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