The forecast, however, seemed almost balmy compared to the record-breaking weather endured Monday. Chicago hit a record low for the date, as temperatures plummeted to minus 16 at O’Hare International Airport around 8 a.m. The previous record was minus 14 set in 1988.
The history-making temperatures – which felt like minus 40 with the wind chill – are part of a national weather pattern that sent more than two dozen states into a deep freeze. Known as a polar vortex, the hurricane-like system carried a mass of frigid air across the Midwest and brought typically winter-proof Chicago to its knees.
