Chicagoans face winter storm head-on as severe weather bears down on the city
(Chicago Tribune Religion News)

Thursday brought the first major winter blast of the season, a storm that crawled across the middle of the country, disrupting travel, upending holiday planning and shuttering much-loved holiday attractions including the city`s Christkindlmarket. But though forecasters had called for temperatures to plummet throughout the day into the single digits — a 20 to 30 degree drop from morning — no storm proved too daunting for some hearty Chicagoans.