Killer Cold: 12 People Have Died in Cook County This Winter and the 'Dangerous Cold' Has Yet to Hit

Written by Dennis Robaugh (Patch National Staff)

Cold temperatures have contributed to the deaths of at least a dozen people in Cook County, according to authorities, and winter’s coldest bite has yet to come.

A 62-year-old man died Saturday on the Far South Side in a vacant building. Believed to be homeless, Ronald Turner, 62, was found dead at midnight in the 0-100 block of 110th Place.

A 56-year-old woman died in Homewood on New Year’s Eve. Debra McCann, visiting from Delaware, succumbed to a heart attack and hypothermia at 2:30 p.m. Garry Stankus, 63, of Blue Island, was pronounced dead at Palos Community Hospital at 2:20 a.m. Dec. 23, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. Hypothermia due to cold exposure, sepsis, pneumonia and alcoholism contributed to his accidental death.

These are believed to be the 10th, 11th and 12th deaths due to the cold since October.

The homeless, elderly and chronically ill are among the most vulnerable as temperatures drop. The combination of cold and accumulating snow will be particularly dangerous. A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for Monday and Tuesday, and overnight lows could drop as low as 15 below zero.

Monday evening, a winter storm will move quickly across the region producing moderate to occasionally heavy snow and 2-inch-to-6-inch accumulations across northern Illinois, according to the National Weather Service.

The snow is expected to fall at some point at the tail end of the evening commuter rush. Because the temperatures are below freezing, rock salt will not melt ice on the roadways, which means a greater likelihood for skidding and sliding among motorists.

Monday’s latest word from our friends at the National Weather Service: