My son sent pics of the Wintry Midway!
Mine too. The frozen tundra!
13 degree tomorrow morning at Hyde Park and with windchill it will feel like -3 degree. If I had an 8:00 am class, I for sure would not go to it, especially if that is a big lecture class.
The saving grace is there had been a lot less snow in Hyde Park than in the suburbs. Total snow fall might be even less than 1 inch in HP whereas northern suburbs and O’Hare got over 3 inches. So the pavement in HP is likely not as icy than say, Evanston.
^ This is 7th week. Kids will be going to class. Also -3 windchill is survivable, esp in the quads. Crossing the Midway will be a bit uncomfortable but so far my kid hasn’t begged me to send him his gloves. For a good number of first years, this is probably a weird adventure right now.
Highly unusual weather for November in Chicago.
Don’t worry next week it will be in the mid 40’s. All the kids will feel like it’s 70 and won’t wear their jackets and will have colds… And it’s like 6 more weeks for winter… Lol…
My Florida grown kid is fine. Based on the gear recommendations from a thread from a couple of years ago, he’s comfy in his warm (but not Canada Goose) jacket, ski instructor favorite mittens and Timberland boots. He texted last night that he was hoping there was enough snow to build a snow man, so I’m assuming he’s fine with the temps.
I give up!
I spoke to my S,on one of the coldest days last week…he’s easing himself into Chicago winters. By ‘easing’ he means he is not layering, wearing heavier jackets or wearing hats and gloves; he’s saving those until it gets ‘really cold’. Last week he was wearing boots, shorts and a lightweight jacket - he must have been quite the sight as he trudged over the Midway!
Don’t give up. Normal kid. In my neighborhood in Chicago kids his age run outside with t-shirt and shorts. It will be warmer the next few days. Still like 5 weeks till winter… Lol…
momo2x2018 Your son sounds just like my DC, who also “saved” the best winter clothing for the real winter weather and therefore froze. This, after many conversations about how to layer and to dress appropriately for the weather in Chicago!
Normally I would dismiss the first years resistance to wear something warm in November as teenagers bravado and that is most likely harmless. Indeed I saw a few college guys/gals and Lab Schools kids still wearing shorts during the Halloween snow storm a few weeks ago.
But there have been something different this year. First, the arctic blast broke all low temperature record during the cold spell last week with windchill getting close to zero degree. Second and more importantly, there have been many different strains of respiratory ailments hitting schools all over Chicago: bronchitis, whopping cough, pneumonia, etc. You name it and there are many cases here. I would advise the first years to take the cold weather seriously this year. Missing a week of school due to sickness will be damn hard to catch up for a quarter system .
^ Sickness is due to being indoors and sneezing/coughing and breathing on others. The cold is contributing to that, of course, since everyone’s indoors a bit more than they otherwise would be for this time of year. But there is nothing about cold weather that contributes directly to illness. Bundle up a bit more so you can be outdoors a bit more. But otherwise I’d let the kids figure out what outerwear they would like to put on (or whether they want to wear pants.)