Mail delays in Chicago.

For those of you engaging in snail mail contacts with people in the Midwest, be aware that the now-ending history-making cold snap has caused major disruptions in many parts of the Midwest, including the Chicago area.

For most of our area, we have not had a mail delivery since Tuesday, although we expect deliveries to resume on Friday. Some post office buildings are open, but are providing only limited services.

Tuesday night, Chicago had a low of -26, one degree less than the all-time lowest temperature in city history. Wednesday's high was -10, reached at midnight, and the low Wednesday night was -21.

Wind chills in the area, due to frequent wind gusts, ranged from -30 to -60 in most Midwestern area, based on time of day and wind speeds.

Rockford IL reached their all-time lowest temperature ever early Thursday morning with a reading of -31.

This is to explain why return communications from many Midwest areas is moving much slower than the norm.

Dave Miedema