Chicago Weather: A Look Back At Brutal Cold Weather Of January, 2019

CHICAGO (CBS) – While Chicagoans endure yet another gloomy day, it beats last year – when it was so cold that wind chills plunged to 50 below zero.

Surface temps fell to minus 23 – and then we got snow! We endured 52 hours of below zero temperatures, the fourth-longest such deep freeze ever recorded in Chicago, and 15 hours longer than the city's last extended deep freeze in 2014.

It was so cold, that experts warned people that they shouldn't talk too much—or breathe deeply outside "to protect your lungs from severely cold air."

Megan Glaros reported that it was colder in Chicago than the South Pole, Barrow, Alaska and Greenland.

Not only that, it was colder here than Mars and Mt. Everest and the places in Russia north of the Arctic Circle.

It was so cold, the sun appeared to rise in two places over Lake Michigan.  A phenomenon known as a "sun dog."

Along Lake Michigan that day, spending just a few seconds caused the skin to feel as it was burning, breathing became difficult and slight nausea set in.

This is what the lake looked like on the morning of Jan. 30.

While schools were closed and many people worked from home, the City of Chicago ordered school crossing guards to work outside.

This week temperatures will remain in the mid 30s for highs—80 degrees warmer than what it felt like last year. While we are in the middle of a stretch of cloudy days, Chicago is unlikely to break the record of 12-straight days of overcast skies.