Chicagoist's Top Stories Of 2014: The Great Polar Vortex
By Lisa White in News on Dec 29, 2014 9:50PM
After a chilly first month of 2014, two words will now forever strike fear in the hearts of many Chicagoans— Polar Vortex. The January of Doom, which many so lovingly referred to as Chiberia, started off with your typical Chicago New Year's Day, trudging home from parties through the snow while bundled up. Nothing new, we've been there before. We threw on some extra layers, reminded everyone to be decent humans and shovel their snow and went about our daily business, nothing unusual.
But a few days in, one helluva big chill settled over Chicago and froze up most of the city. Record lows for the day were quickly broken, many offices closed up shop or suggested staff work from home since even minor exposure to the elements was dangerous. Of course many of us still decided to venture out to explore an arctic-like environment that was still pretty unusual even by Chicago's standards of cold. It was a truly unique feeling, a cold so deep that it almost didn't feel THAT bad until your fingers started to quickly go numb within minutes of being outside. If there ever was a perfect day for sitting inside with a few cups of hot cocoa (or whiskey), Jan. 6, 2014 in Chicago was it.
Of course as we headed into a few more days confined inside during Chiberia, everyone started to get a little stir-crazy, even some nerves on edge. Boiling water was thrown into the air, with mixed results, maple syrup taffy was made at the Chicagoist Bridgeport headquarters, parody Chiberia videos surfaced and even extreme weather couldn't stop the miracle of life. Chicagoans killed time by arguing about dibs, like we always do during the winter. While one good neighbor took matters into her own hands and cleared her Humboldt Park block of snow, creating a true no dibs paradise. A nice touch since clearing the side streets of snow seemed to be something the city truly struggled with this past year.
But like true Chicagoans we found solace in pressing on, complaining together and finding the silver lining in one of the many things that makes Chicago a difficult city to love sometimes. We found beauty in our frozen city and made an effort to give back to those who struggled the most through one of the toughest winters we've seen in over a century. And when the National Weather Service tried to trot out the dreaded Polar Vortex term again this summer to drum up some weather fear in our hearts, good old Tom Skilling shut that nonsense down.
Chicagoans are a hearty bunch and we don't mess around when it comes to both enjoying and bemoaning our fickle weather. We're sure that whatever comes our way this winter, we'll enjoy the best way we can, under many layers, drinking something warm while watching friends and strangers argue about dibs. It's the Chicago way.