Chiberia. Name given to area of extreme cold in mid-Western USA. Chicago + Siberia.
This weather phenomenon term was coined in 2014 during an extreme polar vortex that pummeled the city of Chicago. That year, temperatures plunged as low as -42°F with windchill. We had not seen extremes like this again until this year. And lucky for me, I like me some extreme weather!! My husband Nick is a self-proclaimed weather geek and his passion for following the forecast has rubbed off on me. Together we love to explore the city of Chicago during all sorts of weather patterns, but none are quite as remarkable as the extreme freeze that happens during these arctic-like temperatures.
The coldest it got at O’Hare International Airport during the polar vortex in 2014 was -16°. This year’s deep freeze has that beat, with temperatures reaching -23°F and -52°F with windchill. It’s remarkable how the city looks during these crazy cold temperatures. Lake Michigan becomes a giant steaming masterpiece with rising sea smoke as far as the eye can see. The building tops come alive with steam pouring out of the heat stacks. It’s strangely captivating and so much fun to photograph.
We ventured to North Avenue Beach to capture the skyline and get close to the lake. Some landscape scenes of the beach looked otherworldly, like something you would only see on Mars. And although we were very prepared with layer upon layer, hand warmers, and even ski goggles – we only lasted about 20 minutes before returning to the car. But that amount of time was plenty to capture the beauty of this extreme weather.
Next, we headed south to Museum Campus and explored the lakefront from the stretch of snow-covered pavement that wraps around the Adler Planetarium. This exploration was one of the most surreal moments I’ve had in my 16 years of living in Chicago. When we reached the backside of the museum it literally felt like we were on another continent – namely, Antarctica! I was half expecting to see a penguin pop into the frame of my camera’s view finder! As we turned to head back to the car the steam rising off the lake was carried in massive waves through the air, coupled with blowing snow from the ground it created almost white-out conditions. It was wild!
We had a lot of fun venturing out in these extremely challenging conditions. Here are the photos…
