Extreme Cold in Illinois, January 6 to 7, 2014

Name: Extreme Cold in Illinois, January 6 to 7, 2014
Start: 2014-01-06T00:00
End: 2014-01-07T09:00
Location: Illinois

January 6 to 7, 2014 · NWS LOT · 18 events in 18 counties and zones

An extremely cold arctic airmass settled over northern Illinois with minimum observed wind chills falling into the -40 F to -50 F range area-wide. Some of the coldest wind chill reports include Steward at -50 F; Aurora at -47 F; Rochelle at -47 F; DuPage at -46 F; Romeoville at -46 F; Rockford at -46 F; and O'Hare airport at -42 F.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 16 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 4
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 18

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.

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 5, 5:29 PM CST, 6 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 5:29 PM CST, 6 hours 31 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 5, 4:25 PM CST, 7 hours 35 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

18 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Winnebago

When: January 6, 12:00 AM CST to January 7, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Winnebago forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.336, -89.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lee

When: January 6, 12:00 AM CST to January 7, 8:15 AM CST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 41.746, -89.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Ogle

When: January 6, 12:00 AM CST to January 7, 8:15 AM CST
Where: Ogle forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 42.043, -89.321 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Kane

When: January 6, 12:00 AM CST to January 7, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Kane forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.939, -88.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, La Salle

When: January 6, 12:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: La Salle forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 41.344, -88.886 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Livingston

When: January 6, 12:00 AM CST to January 7, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Livingston forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 40.892, -88.558 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Boone

When: January 6, 1:00 AM CST to January 7, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 42.323, -88.823 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, De Kalb

When: January 6, 1:00 AM CST to January 7, 6:00 AM CST
Where: De Kalb forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 41.894, -88.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, McHenry

When: January 6, 1:00 AM CST to January 7, 6:00 AM CST
Where: McHenry forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 42.324, -88.452 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Kendall

When: January 6, 1:00 AM CST to January 7, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Kendall forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 41.591, -88.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Grundy

When: January 6, 1:00 AM CST to January 7, 2:45 AM CST
Where: Grundy forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 41.285, -88.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Iroquois

When: January 6, 1:00 AM CST to January 7, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Iroquois forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.747, -87.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Ford

When: January 6, 1:00 AM CST to 11:15 AM CST
Where: Ford forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.597, -88.223 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lake

When: January 6, 2:00 AM CST to January 7, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Lake forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.349, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Du Page

When: January 6, 2:00 AM CST to January 7, 8:00 AM CST
Where: Du Page forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.852, -88.086 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cook

When: January 6, 2:00 AM CST to January 7, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Cook forecast zone
Deaths: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: ASOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Will

When: January 6, 2:00 AM CST to January 7, 8:00 AM CST
Where: Will forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Kankakee

When: January 6, 2:00 AM CST to January 7, 8:15 AM CST
Where: Kankakee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 41.138, -87.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cook	2014-01-07	49	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cook	2014-01-07	66	Female	Permanent Home	Direct
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cook	2014-01-06	80	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cook	2014-01-07	55	Male	Permanent Home	Direct

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Illinois in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, January 2014

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 495480, 495482, 495483, 495487, 495493, 495494, 495481, 495484, 495485, 495490, 495491, 495496, 495497, 495486, 495488, 495489, 495492, 495495.