Watch this incredible shot of steam rising off Lake Michigan in Chicago's cold

Steam rising off Lake Michigan.
(Image credit: Screenshot/CBS)

If you haven't heard, it's cold in Chicago. And Minnesota. And the entire Midwest.

The so-called polar vortex swept toward the Great Lakes on Tuesday, bringing unprecedented cold to the Windy City and beyond. The lowest recorded temperature in the Lower 48 came from Park Rapids, Minnesota, which racked up a minus 42 degree reading this morning with a wind chill of minus 65. That was definitely lower than summertime temperatures Antarctica is experiencing right now, but even Chicago and Minneapolis saw measurements colder than the northern edge of Alaska, per The Washington Post.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.