Record cold temperatures at O'Hare, for two days in a row
In a fall that already brought snow on Halloween, Veterans Day set records for bitter cold - as did the morning after.
Late Monday, just before midnight, the temperature at O'Hare International Airport fell to 13 degrees, the lowest temperature ever recorded on a Nov. 11, according to Edward Fenelon of the National Weather Service center in Romeoville.
The previous low for Nov. 11 was 15 degrees, recorded in 1950, Fenelon said. That's so long ago it predates Veterans Day, which replaced the World War I-inspired Armistice Day in 1954.
Tuesday, meanwhile, was also one for the record books. The mercury dipped to 7 degrees at O'Hare Tuesday morning, a full 2 degrees lower than the previous record for Nov. 12, which was set in 1982, according to Fenelon.
"This is an air mass that's more typical for the middle of January than mid-November," National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Birk said in Chicago. "It is pretty much about the coldest we can be this time of year, (and) it could break records all over the region."
According to AccuWeather, suburbanites had it worse than residents of Juneau, Alaska, who enjoyed highs of 41 degrees Tuesday. And those dwelling in Novosibirsk, the unofficial capital of Siberia, had a high of 21.
• The Associated Press contributed to this report.