Cold/Wind Chill, Cook
- When
- January 30, 1:00 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
- Where
- Cook forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
Cold in Illinois, January 30, 2003
Low temperatures on the 29th and 30th were in the lower to middle teens. An elderly woman died of cold exposure on January 30th in Chicago.
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.
Low temperatures on the 29th and 30th were in the lower to middle teens. An elderly woman died of cold exposure on January 30th in Chicago.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 29, 5:46 PM CST, 7 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 5:46 PM CST, 7 hours 14 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 515 PM CST WED JAN 29 2003 AVIATION DISCUSSION 00Z TAFS NORTHEAST-SOUTHWEST ORIENTED SURFACE RIDGE AXIS FROM NORTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN TO SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN TO NORTHWEST ILLINOIS TO SOUTHWEST IOWA AT 23Z FORECAST TO CONTINUE MOVING S AND ACROSS THE TERMINALS BY 03Z. LOW LEVEL WINDS FROM PROFILERS....WSR-88DS AND ACARS ALL LIGHT TO CALM AS WOULD BE EXPECTED NEAR RIDGE AXIS...ENDING LAKE EFFECT SNOW. GIVEN LACK OF FLOW FEEL STRATOCUMULUS CLOUDS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE AND THEN ADVECT BACK NORTH-NORTHEAST THIS EVE ON BACK SIDE OF RIDGE BEFORE MORE SOUTHWESTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW BRINGS IN POCKET OF DRIER AIR CLEARING OUT MVFR CIGS AROUND 06Z. BY THEN PATCHY 5000 TO 8000 FOOT CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH MINOR SHORT WAVE MOVING SOUTHEAST FROM THE DAKOTAS WILL BE OVER AREA. PERIOD OF 3000 TO 4000 FOOT CEILINGS ACROSS AREA 12Z TO 19Z WITH ONSET OF WARM AIR ADVECTION AND POCKET OF HIGHER MOISTURE AIR MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. TRS 239 PM CST WED JAN 29 2003 PUBLIC DISCUSSION FOR 330PM ZONES/GRIDS FORECAST CONCERNS FOCUS ON LOW TEMPS/CLOUDS/FLURRIES TONIGHT THEN PRECIP TYPE/TEMPS THURS NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. CLOUDS SLOWLY CLEARING THRU NORTHERN HALF OF CWA THIS PM AND WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING. SOME LAKE EFFECT -SHSN AND FLURRIES STARTED LATE THIS MORNING AND WILL INCLUDE FLURRIES FOR EARLY THIS EVENING MAINLY NORTHWEST INDIANA. GUIDANCE HAS WARMED SEVERAL DEGREES LAST 24 HRS FOR LOWS TONIGHT. WITH FRESH SNOW PACK AND LIGHT WINDS WOULD EXPECT A STEADY DROP. ANY MID LEVEL CLOUDS WILL HELP TO KEEP TEMPS UP BUT STILL THINK GOING UNDER ALL GUIDANCE BEST BET FOR NOW. DRY THURSDAY BEFORE NEXT SYSTEM SWINGS THRU LATE THURS NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRECIP THURS NIGHT WITH ETA SHOWING MOST WARMING BETWEEN 800 AND 900MB. WILL INCLUDE A CHANCE OF -FZRA AND -SN BUT BY FRIDAY MAY SWITCH OVER TO A MORE WET SNOW MIXED WITH RAIN OR EVEN ALL RAIN SOUTH. PRECIP SHOULD CLEAR EASTERN AREAS BY LATE AFTERNOON. TEMPS START SLOW WARMING TREND SAT AND SAT NIGHT AS LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPS AND MOVES NORTHWEST OF FA. SHOULD SEE SOME LIGHT PRECIP SATURDAY NIGHT AS WARM FRONT MOVES THRU THEN A NICE WARMUP INTO THE 40S...MAYBE 50 SUNDAY BEFORE FROPA LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY MORNING. WRAP AROUND PRECIP CHANGES TO SNOW MONDAY THEN DRY INTO MID WEEK WITH COOLING TEMPS. .CHI...NONE. CMS
Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 29, 9:02 AM CST, 15 hours 58 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 301200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 600 AM CST WED JAN 29 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS...NORTHWEST INDIANA...AND THE ADJACENT WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE... TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE NEXT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW WILL BE LATE THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BRING A RAIN AND SNOW MIX LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...CHANGING TO ALL LIGHT SNOW BEFORE ENDING MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
Event by event
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Cook | 2003-01-30 | 85 | Female | Other | Direct |
What these are
- Cold/Wind Chill
- Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Wind in Wyoming, January 30, 2003
- Dense Fog in Oklahoma, January 30, 2003
- Winter Weather in Virginia, January 30, 2003
- Winter Storm in Virginia, January 30, 2003
- High Wind in Colorado, January 30, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Virginia, January 30, 2003
- Winter Weather in Delaware, January 30, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Montana, January 30, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, January 30, 2003
- High Wind in Oregon, January 30 to 31, 2003
- Winter Weather in Maryland, January 30, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 30 to 31, 2003
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2003
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5339327.