This Friday is looking to be the coldest day the Chicago area has had in the past seven years. The forecast is predicting the high temperature may only reach -3 degrees and wind chills could be well into the -30 to -40 degree range, making it bitterly cold for school commutes. It will be so cold that the National Weather Service has issued an extreme cold watch for the Lake County area. These dangerous temperatures can cause frostbite to set in as fast as 5 to 10 minutes. If the temps fall below -4 it will break the coldest high temperature ever for the City of Chicago. 

We will be having an e-learning day on Friday, with teachers being told to prepare Zoom links and get prepared for remote school. Which will be LFA’s first Snow Day of the year.

The last time it has been bitterly cold in the Chicagoland area was back in January of 2019 where LFA had two days off of school and Wind Chill temperatures sunk to an astonishing -56 degrees.

The City of Chicago is already preparing for the cold as well with the operations of warming centers across the city limits including community service centers, libraries, park district buildings and police district stations all open for the cold.

Metra will also be affected, with the rail agency reducing the amount of trains it will be running, making it as if it was a Saturday/Sunday schedule instead of a rush hour week day schedule.

Officials urge people to limit time outside and dress in appropriate layers to help prevent frostbite and to stay warm Friday in Chicago.