Bundle up, Chicago.
As the city’s quickest start to winter in nearly 50 years persists, this weekend is due to bring another round of bitter cold weather, officials say.
Expect temperatures to plunge starting Friday night. After highs in the low 30s, the cold will begin to set in overnight into Saturday, according to David King, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chicago.
Through the start of the weekend, there’s a chance of snow, but most accumulation is expected southwest of the city, King said. It’s after that system that forecasters predict the bone-chilling temperatures to really set in.
Saturday night into Sunday morning, the city could see windchills reach as low 20 to 30 degrees below zero, King said.
As for Sunday, when the Chicago Bears face off against the Cleveland Browns at noon at Soldier Field, forecasters anticipate temperatures climbing to a frosty 12 degrees, with the lows dipping back down into the single digits by nightfall.
The Bears are no strangers to cold weather, having battled cold and windy conditions Black Friday in Philadelphia. They did it again last week at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
Sunday’s temperatures aren’t expected to eclipse the coldest Bears game at Soldier Field on record in December 2008, when the Bears beat the Packers in a game that saw temperatures reach 2 degrees.
The weather service’s King encouraged anyone stepping out into the cold this weekend to take extra care with layering up.
Citywide, as subzero conditions set in, warming centers will be open starting Friday, the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications said in a news release. Warming center hours and locations can be found at https://bit.ly/4rTla3V or by calling 311.
Outside of the city, Cook County will be opening warming centers in the north, west and south suburbs, with locations at the Skokie, Maywood and Markham courthouses. The centers will open at 8:30 a.m. Friday and run continuously through 4:30 p.m. Monday. Centers are welcome to pets in cages or carriers and will have both snacks and access to restrooms.
A map of other warming centers operated by municipalities around the county is available at https://bit.ly/4q7POVK.
As a precaution, some suburbs have opted to cancel activities and holiday fare planned for the weekend. Local park district officials in Aurora have canceled all Holiday Express events at the city’s Blackberry Farm through Saturday and Sunday. In Will County, a food giveaway at Lockport Township High School planned for Sunday was also canceled ahead of the extreme cold.
Still, the region may get a reprieve from the frigid — and snowy — start to December beginning next week. On Monday, highs will start to reach into the 20s, weather officials say, followed by a milder pattern as the week goes on.
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/12/chicago-weather-weekend-forecast/
