Now I know why the geese have been high-tailin' south the last few weeks. Gotta hate this global warming.

WINNEBAGO-BOONE-MCHENRY-LAKE IL-OGLE- LEE-DE KALB-KANE-DU PAGE-COOK- LA SALLE-KENDALL-GRUNDY-WILL-KANKAKEE- LIVINGSTON-IROQUOIS-FORD- LAKE IN- PORTER-NEWTON-JASPER-BENTON- 420 PM CST FRI FEB 2 2007

...COLDEST FEBRUARY TEMPERATURES IN OVER TEN YEARS EXPECTED THIS   WEEKEND...

SUBZERO TEMPERATURES WILL AFFECT NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA AS ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO INVADE THE REGION THIS WEEKEND.

THE FIRST SURGE OF ARCTIC AIR HAS OVERSPREAD NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA ON FRIDAY WITH SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATING SINGLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES ABOVE ZERO ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA EARLY FRIDAY EVENING. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO TONIGHT...POSSIBLY DROPPING TO A FEW DEGREES BELOW ZERO ACROSS NORTHWEST ILLINOIS AND ACROSS THE ROCKFORD AREA. WINDS WILL DIMINISH SOMEWHAT THIS EVENING...BUT THE COMBINATION OF THE WINDS AND THE COLD TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE WIND CHILL VALUES OF 10 BELOW TO 20 BELOW ZERO TONIGHT.

A PERIOD OF SNOW LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY IS EXPECTED TO HERALD A SECOND...EVEN MORE INTENSE PUSH OF ARCTIC AIR. HIGHS ON SATURDAY WILL REMAIN IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO...WITH NIGHTTIME LOWS SATURDAY NIGHT DROPPING INTO THE 5 BELOW TO 10 BELOW DEGREE ZERO RANGE. WIND CHILLS ON SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO BE 20 BELOW TO 30 BELOW ZERO. DAYTIME HIGHS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY ARE ONLY EXPECTED TO REACH A FEW DEGREES ABOVE ZERO WITH NIGHTTIME LOWS AS COLD AS 10 BELOW ZERO. DAYTIME WIND CHILLS SUNDAY AND MONDAY WILL DROP TO 15 BELOW ZERO WITH NIGHTTIME WIND CHILLS OF 20 BELOW TO 30 BELOW ZERO.

POLAR AIR IS EXPECTED TO HOLD ITS GRIP ON THE MIDWEST THROUGH TUESDAY...WITH MODERATING TEMPERATURES ARRIVING MIDWEEK.

AT THIS TIME...TEMPERATURES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS COLD AS THE 1996 EPISODE THAT BROUGHT RECORD COLD TEMPERATURES OF 20 BELOW ZERO TO THE AREA. NONETHELESS...SUBZERO READINGS ARE FORECAST TO COMBINE WITH WINDS OF 20 MPH AT TIMES TO PRODUCE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO FROM FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT.

[ Interesting aside to the last paragraph...We had a guy whose furnace was not working after vacating his apartment during this particular cold snap, The winds were 25-35 MPH so the wind chill was about 80 degrees below zero and his unit faced due west, the direction the wind was coming from. The water in his toilet bowl was frozen solid and the temperature in his unit was 0 degrees. The pilot light of the furnace that services the common hallways had blown out and it was 32 degrees in the hallway. The furnace for the hallways is on the roof of a 3-story building and the guy's unit furnace is outside in a closet on his patio.  And I was on call... ]