As temperatures hit below zero over the weekend, the Harold Washington Library opened as a 24/7 city warming center, and migrants at the city’s landing zone in the West Loop were moved there.
The lower level of the library will remain open around the clock through Wednesday, when temperature are expected to rise.
Migrants staying on buses at the landing zone at 800 S. Des Plaines St. have been moved to the library at 400 S. State St., according to Mayor Brandon Johnson and Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
But neither office said when they were moved or how many were taken to the library. City officials said as of Friday, 141 migrants were awaiting placement at the landing zone.
The National Weather Service reported extreme cold and a negative 40-degree wind chill on Sunday morning and issued a wind chill advisory lasting until 9 a.m. Wednesday. Wind chills Sunday night are expected to be similar to earlier in the day.
Weather service senior meteorologist Brett Borchardt said Chicago narrowly missed breaking the record for the lowest maximum temperature for Jan. 14 of 1 degree. Temperatures at O’Hare were at 3 degrees “for a few minutes” after midnight Sunday before crashing below zero, he said.
“But the air temperature has been below zero during daylight hours today, so I would call that unusual,” Borchardt said.
Still, Borchardt said periods of extreme cold are not unusual for the region this time of year. “It’s comparable with some of the colder snaps that we’ve had. It’s not the coldest on record by far. Every year, we’re going to get these cold stretches, this is just one of the colder ones.”
He compared this frigid weekend to Dec. 22-23, 2022, when -40 degree wind chills were recorded, and temperatures in Chicago dipped to -8 degrees.
Residents should limit time outside to avoid slippery road conditions and frostbite, the weather service cautioned. The wind chill could cause frostbite on exposed skin in about 30 minutes.
“This is the coldest air we’ve experienced this season, so its important to dress up from head to toe and limit time outdoors if possible. The wind chill is pretty nasty out there,” Borchardt said.
As of Sunday at 2 p.m., ComEd reported at least 12 outages in Cook County, two in DuPage County and zero in DeKalb County. In Cook County, at least 27 customers were affected by the outages, according to ComEd.
Within the last 24 hours, at least 172 flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport and 56 at Midway International Airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. The average delay at O’Hare was around 30 minutes and less than 15 minutes at Midway.
Other warming sites
The Garfield Community Service Center, 10 S. Kedzie Ave., is open 24/7 to help families and residents find emergency shelter. The center is open as warming site Sunday and Monday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Outside of Chicago, Cook County opened 24-hour warming centers at the Skokie Courthouse, 5600 Old Orchard Road; Maywood Courthouse, 1500 Maybrook Drive; and Markham Courthouse, 16501 S. Kedzie Ave. The warming centers will remain open till 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Randolph Court at the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St., will be open as a warming center 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday and Monday.
On Martin Luther King Day, the park district will have warming centers at these locations.
Also open Monday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., will be these regional library locations: Sulzer, 4455 N. Lincoln Ave.; Woodson, 9525 S. Halsted St.; and Legler, 115 S. Pulaski Road.
There have been two cold exposure deaths in Cook County so far this winter.
A 60-year-old man died of cold exposure Thursday in northwest suburban Schiller Park. Andrew E. Siemionko died about 1 p.m. in the 4600 block of Wesley Terrace, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy determined he died of environmental cold exposure, and his death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.
On Dec. 4, a 74-year-old woman died on Chicago’s Lower West Side of cold exposure and hypothermia, according to the medical examiner’s office. Her death was also ruled an accident.
