Chicago Weather: AccuWeather Alert has been issued as Thursday’s forecast calls for bitterly cold, subfreezing winds across the area

CHICAGO (WLS) – It was snowing in some parts of the Chicago area on Wednesday afternoon, but the big weather story is that temperatures are starting to drop.

The area is set for its coldest air yet this season.

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With temperatures dropping, Wednesday was not a night for a leisurely stroll. The extreme cold is biting and brutal.

“Well, I don’t have a hat today. It just permeates everything,” said Kate Christian, who was walking in the cold. “I thought I was dressed warmly. That’s not me.”

By the time commuters tried to get home that evening, wind chills were already in their teens. Walking across the bridge to Union Station was a teeth-chattering, face-numbing ordeal that required you to just put one foot in front of the other.

“It’s freezing cold at the moment. It’s pretty rough down here,” said Michael Murphy, who was also out in the cold. “I hate to see it in the morning.”

Amid the Arctic blast, people across the region could wake up Thursday morning to temperatures in the single digits and wind chills below zero. Wind gusts reached speeds of up to 35 miles per hour Wednesday evening, said ABC7 meteorologist Larry Mowry.

FULL FORECAST | Weather in Chicago: Wind chill below zero on Thursday

The arctic cold was accompanied by a short layer of snow in some areas on Wednesday afternoon.

At Deljo Heating & cooling, the phones are already busy.

“It was a little chaotic with incoming calls about no heat, emergency furnace repairs and things like that,” Deljo Heating said said Luke Weiden, General Manager of & Cooling.

Deljo recommends people replace their furnace’s air filter, open all registers and keep the thermostat at a set temperature rather than on schedule.

“This means the oven doesn’t have to work as hard to get back to the set temperature,” said Weiden.

It is also recommended to let your faucets drain overnight if they are connected to pipes in an outside wall to prevent those pipes from freezing.

The city of Chicago and counties across the region are opening warming centers to help those in need during dangerous winter conditions.

READ MORE | Chicago Weather: City opens warming centers as bitterly cold temperatures prevail

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