cold weather

We're at about the half-way point of this polar vortex's visit to the Rockford area (and most of the country, too), and the complaining you've probably been hearing (or doing) is getting louder and angrier by the day.

That sudden and rapid decrease in your phone's battery life is not your imagination, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to replace the battery or phone. The culprit might just be this incredibly cold weather we're experiencing right now.

If you've been thinking that scammers will use absolutely any crisis or situation to try to extract money from your pockets, you are absolutely right. This polar vortex, or frigid weather system we're currently receiving is another opportunity for them.

With single-digit temperatures and sub-zero windchills throughout the Stateline, it's nice to know that our area warming centers are helping to cut the chill.

So, you got your garbage together last night, then schlepped it out to the curb. Yeah, about that...

There's chilly, then there's cold, and then there's killer cold. We're definitely past the first two.

Dennis Horton, Executive Director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) joined us with some great advice on avoiding being scammed.

Sure, having a daytime high temperature of 10 degrees with a windchill (or, "feels like") of 13 degrees below zero is unpleasant--but we've had it much worse.

It's cold out there, so you start your car a little early to warm it up while you wait inside your house. The Rockford Police Department says you're setting yourself up for a problem

And they did it during some seriously cold weather.