Dry, gusty conditions in Northeastern Illinois led the National Weather Service to issue a fire weather watch for the entire Chicago area Monday. Here's a breakdown of what it means.

A wind advisory and a fire weather watch were issued Monday for parts of the Chicago area, the National Weather Service said, with dry air and gusty winds of up to 50 miles-per-hour possible at times.

It seems like, every day, the weather authorities introduce a brand new term to define the winter-like conditions that Chicagoans have to constantly deal with.

Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 28, according to the Tribune’s archives. Is an important event missing from this date? Email us. Weather records (from the National Weather Service,

Trainings for Illinois residents looking to join the National Weather Service's severe storm spotter program will be held virtually for the first time this year. There will also be in-person Community Weather Preparedness training sessions.

Monday, the temperature is expected to drop to minus 3 at O’Hare International Airport. A low of minus 7 is expected at O’Hare Tuesday.

As Chicago braces for dangerously cold temperatures, you may notice some changes in the weather advisories issued by the National Weather Service.

Temperatures will plunge into the single digits by early Sunday, and likely won't rise above the single digits until Wednesday.

The National Weather Service issued two advisories from 6 p.m. Sunday to noon Monday, and from 9 p.m. Monday to noon Tuesday.

Chicago faces cloudy skies and potential snow with risks of slick travel conditions and a plunge in temperatures by the weekend.

After digging into the archives, weather service meteorologists found that since 1942, fewer than 5% of Chicago’s sub-zero days have occurred with no snow: of 594 sub-zero days, only 28 lacked snow cover.

National Weather Service officials issued a cold weather advisory in effect until 2 p.m. Tuesday for portions of central, east central and northeast Illinois as well as northwest Indiana. Officials said dangerously cold wind chills may reach as low as 28 below zero causing frostbite to those exposed to the frigid temperatures in as little as 30 minutes.