The coldest weather of the winter season is expected in the Stateline in the morning of Super Bowl Sunday.
Thursday afternoon, the city of Rockford reached a high of 36 degrees before a strong cold front moved over the area and thus began the coldest stretch of weather so far this season. Temperatures plummeted into the teens and single digits for Friday afternoon while wind gusts upwards of 40 mph kept wind chills below zero for practically the entire day. Saturday was even colder with a high of only 9° in Rockford and wind chills well below zero throughout the day. Though the Stateline has yet to see the worst of this cold snap as Sunday morning is expected to bring wind chills the likes of which the Stateline has not seen in over two years.
As of Saturday evening, clearing skies and a fresh coat of snow are helping temperatures to creep closer and closer to the 0° mark. A few spots have already seen the thermometer drop below zero as of 9:00 PM with wind chills as low as 20° to 25° below zero, primarily in areas west of I-39. The rest of the Stateline will follow suit heading through the overnight hours. By early Sunday morning, wind chills are expected to fall as low as 20° to 30° below zero with early morning low temperatures between -10° and -15°. High temperatures on Sunday will likely not exceed the lower single digits with a few spots potentially not making it above 0°. Wind chills are expected to warm a bit through the day with both warming temperatures and calming winds in the afternoon and evening though are still expected to remain below zero through the day. In anticipation of the cold, the National Weather Service has issued a wind chill warning for Carroll, Jo Daviess, Stephenson, and Whiteside Counties. A wind chill advisory is in effect for the remainder of the Stateline. Both the warning and advisory are set to expire at noon on Sunday. With wind chills as low as 20° to 30° below zero, frostbite can occur in as little as 10-15 minutes. Do not spend prolonged periods of time outdoors Sunday morning and wear several layers of clothing if going outdoors including a hat, gloves, and scarf. Leave as little skin exposed to the wind as possible.
This will not be the coldest Super Bowl Sunday in Rockford as that record belongs to Super Bowl Sunday, 1985 when Rockford saw a low temperature -26° and a high temperature of only -5°. However, this will be the coldest Super Bowl Sunday since 2007 when the Chicago Bears took on the Indianapolis Colts. The high in Rockford on that day: 1°.
Through the week ahead, high temperatures are forecast to stay in the single digits and lower teens with overnight lows below 0° and plenty of sub-zero wind chills every day through the end of the work week.
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