Chicago forecast: Cold weather advisory with wind chills as low as -30

A bitter blast across the entire Chicago area continues Tuesday, with another cold weather advisory in effect and morning wind chills as low as -30 degrees in some parts.

The advisory, issued for all of northeastern Illinois, continues until 12 p.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. As many as seven schools have announced e-learning or delays due to the cold, including Lyons School District 103, Joliet Public Schools and River Forest School Corporation. Chicago Public Schools remained open, according to its website.

A running list of school closures from the Emergency Closing Center can be found here.

The advisory and school closures comes amid extreme cold warnings for 11 states across the U.S., stretching from the Canadian border to Oklahoma and central Texas.

Early Tuesday morning, temperatures clocked in at -4 degrees in Chicago, with wind chills between -25 and -30 in parts to the west. While the high temperature will warm to 11 degrees, wind chill values will stay below zero through the afternoon, NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman said.

"Limit time outdoors, if you can, and bundle up when you do need to go outside," the NWS said, adding that frozen pipes, hypothermia, frostbite and ice jams on area rivers were all possible.

Dehydration from the cold can also occur, health experts warned, which could take people by surprise.

"We usually associate dehydration with hot weather, but cold weather we are often able to get it too because you feel less thirsty and we tend to drink less fluids during that time," Dr. Santina Wheat with Northwestern Medicine said. "Additionally, when it’s cold outside, we are inside with indoor heating hopefully. That dry air can also increase the water loss that we have through evaporation."

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Wheat recommends drinking fluids throughout the day and keeping a clean humidifier near by. If you don't have a humidifier, she suggests putting a bowl of water near your heat source in your home.

Signs of dehydration in the intense cold can be dry mouth and skin, dizziness, headaches and nose bleeds.

How long will the cold last?

The bitter cold will last through Thursday, Roman said, with another cold weather advisory going into effect at midnight Tuesday through 10 a.m. Wednesday for counties to the west, including McHenry Boone, Winnebago and DeKalb.

At that time, "feels-like" temperature could be between -25 and -30 degrees, the NWS said.

Some light snowflakes could fall late Wednesday, Roman said, with temperatures warming into the teens. The gradual warm-up continues, Roman said, with a high of 21 degrees Thursday.

By Friday, temperatures will hit around 30 degrees, Roman said, with higher readings into the weekend and 40 degree readings by early next week.

Frozen pipes, warming centers and more

Amid the cold, the Chicago Department of Water Management advised residents to run a trickle of cold weather on each floor of their home to prevent pipes from freezing.

"If a pipe does freeze, never use an open flame to thaw it," the department said. "Use a hairdryer instead."

Warming centers

According to the Chicago Department of Emergency Management and Communications, more than 200 facilities will be available for warming through Friday, including Chicago Public Library and Park District locations, city colleges and police departments.

Other community warming centers, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. are below:

• Englewood Community Service Center - 1140 West 79th Street
• Garfield Community Service Center - 10 South Kedzie Avenue
• Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center - 4314 South Cottage Grove
• North Area Community Service Center - 845 West Wilson Avenue
• South Chicago Community Service Center - 8650 South Commercial Avenue
• Trina Davila Community Service Center - 4312 West North Avenue