Cold Weather Stories to Bundle Up With During This Weekend’s Deep Freeze

If you haven’t noticed from the ice crystals creeping up your windows or the wind biting at your nose, it’s pretty cold out there! Lean into the frigid temperatures from the safety of your couch (preferably under a heated blanket) with these delightfully wintry cold weather stories from WTTW.

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Chicago Stories: Legendary Blizzards

Anyone who lives in the Windy City knows that wild weather is part of what makes Chicago, well, Chicago. But there were two blizzards that brought the city to its knees. The blizzard of January 1967 brought a record 23 inches of snow to Chicagoland, stopping the city in its tracks. The storm would require 2,500 people and 500 pieces of equipment to clear the roads. Then 12 years later, Chicagoans faced another behemoth: the blizzard of 1979. Forecasters called for just 2 to 4 inches, but the 38-hour blizzard dumped 21 inches. Mayor Michael Bilandic was blamed for the city’s woefully inadequate response, and a woman named Jane Byrne would capitalize on his blunders and go on to become the city’s first female mayor. Explore the Chicago Stories companion website.

Snowmageddon! Remembering the 2011 Groundhog’s Day Blizzard

Snowmageddon! The Groundhog Day Blizzard! Whatever you call it, the epic snowstorm that slammed Chicago in 2011 was unforgettable. Watch our animated digital exclusive above!

Chicago’s Winter Swimmers

For many Chicagoans, Labor Day marks the end of the swim season. But the die-hard members of Open Water Chicago never say goodbye to the Lakefront: they swim in the lake year round. Meet four swimmers at sunrise to see how they prepare for swimming in 36 degree water, and what they see as the mental, physical, and social benefits of swimming in Lake Michigan, even in the depths of winter.

How Did Dibs Become a Chicago Winter Tradition?

Every winter, Chicago stands divided around a practice commonly known as “dibs” – when car owners use janky household objects to reserve their precious shoveled-out parking spaces. The idea behind dibs is that digging your car out from the snow earns you exclusive rights to the spot. And should you decide to flout dibs and park in a space someone else has marked with a folding chair, dubiously acquired traffic cones or a late Georgian Hepplewhite sideboard, there’s an implicit threat that your car will pay the price. So how did dibs begin? WTTW News Explains.

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‘It Takes a Lot to Stop This City’: Revisiting Chicago’s Legendary Blizzards
Chicagoans are a tough crowd when it comes to enduring the city’s famously challenging winters. Puffy parkas down past our knees, heavy boots crunching on icy sidewalks, scarves pulled taut around our faces to ward off the blustery wind tunnel created by our magnificent skyscrapers – we can handle the snow. But every now and then, a snowstorm can bring even this hardy town to a standstill. Chicago’s biggest blizzards have tested the limits of the city’s infrastructure and demonstrated the resilience of its people. The top five legendary snowstorms below, listed in this piece by the amount of snowfall, aren’t just weather events, they’re part of Chicago’s collective memory. Read the full story.

What’s the View of Chicago Like from a Snow Plow? A Q&A with a City Truck Driver
If you’ve ever white-knuckled your steering wheel down Lake Shore Drive during a blizzard, you know driving in a Chicago winter isn’t for the faint of heart. But for Marc Greenwood, it’s just another day on the job. Born and raised on the city’s West Side and now a Northwest Side resident, Greenwood has been in the snow removal business for 25 years, and has spent the last 5 years with the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation. Greenwood, along with other drivers, is often one of the first people out on Chicago’s roads in a heavy snowfall. WTTW asked him about his perspective, and, being a total pro, he emphasized safety above all. Read the interview.

How the 1979 Chicago Blizzard Cooled a Mayor’s Chances at Re-Election
Winter was off to a brutal start in Chicago in 1979. On New Year’s Eve, 9 inches of snow fell on the city. Then came a deep freeze. And that was before the record-breaking blizzard began. On Friday, January 12, 1979, the first snowflakes of the blizzard began to fall on the city of Chicago. It would not let up for 38 hours. With a total snowfall of 20.3 inches, it remains Chicago’s fourth largest snowstorm on record. After the snow fell, winds reaching nearly 40 miles per hour pummeled the city, and another deep freeze settled in. The windchill plummeted below zero, and the City that Works was frozen. As frustration mounted throughout Chicago, the snowstorm had an unexpected chilling effect on Mayor Michael Bilandic’s political career. Read the full story.

Snowed In, Chicago-Style: Our Audience Remembers the City’s Biggest Blizzards
We asked our audience to share memories of the city’s snowiest days in connection with Chicago Stories: Legendary Blizzards, and they delivered. This story looks back, through their words and photos, at the snowfalls whose memories lingered long after the ice melted. For our audience, three winters in particular stood out. Read the full story.

The Artist Whose Photographs Capture the “Infinite Outcomes,” Changing Seasons of Chicago’s Lakefront Landscape
What do you picture when you think of a landscape? A meadow beneath a mountain? An open prairie? A vast desert? What about the convergence of a frozen Great Lake and a city skyline? For Chicago-based artist and photographer Lincoln Schatz, the city’s shoreline on Lake Michigan is a powerful landscape with endless possibilities for artistic expression and communing with nature. Winter is Schatz’s “hands-down favorite” time of year to capture the lake. “There’s an aspect of solitude out there in the wintertime and then the transformation in these unpredictable ways, it’s so deeply alluring,” he says. Read the full story.

Weigh In: Do You Believe in “Dibs”?
To “dibs” or not to “dibs.” That is the question. Dibs is a timeless Chicago tradition in which people use household objects to reserve the parking spot they shoveled out on the street. (This practice is, technically speaking, not legal.) Many feel that if you shovel it, it’s yours. But not everyone is on board with that sentiment. Have you dabbled in dibs, or do you oppose the practice? Take the poll.