Chicago residents keep going despite polar vortex cold snap
CHICAGO - Faced with a solemn responsibility Wednesday morning, Peter Thomas did not flinch. He arose, as always, at 3:45 a.m., when the temperature was already well south of zero, and made it to the Elmhurst train station in time to open his coffee shop, Pilot Pete's, for commuters catching the first Metra of the day.
"People today need coffee more than any other day," he said.
Indeed, the blast of frigid arctic air sent temperatures plummeting across the Chicago area. Even before 2 a.m., Wednesday had set a record low for Jan. 30, descending to 16 degrees below zero and beating a low temperature of minus 15 set in 1966. By 7 a.m., temperatures were down to minus 23 at O'Hare International Airport, with wind chill of 52 degrees below zero, according to the National Weather Service.
Other areas saw wind chills as low as 50 below zero by early Wednesday. West of Chicago, DeKalb recorded wind chills of 54 degrees below zero by 6 a.m. Temperatures had slightly climbed to 19 degrees below zero just before 11:30 a.m., according
