Bone-chilling cold is descending on the Midwest. The last time Chicago faced temperatures this low was more than 30 years ago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has offered tips for getting yourself, your home and your car ready for winter weather. We asked people in Chicago who work in extreme cold for their practical tips for survival. Here’s what they said.

[For the latest developments, read our Thursday live briefing on the polar vortex here.]

Wear rubber gloves.

Anita Ellis, a crossing guard who was stationed outside John T. McCutcheon Elementary School in Chicago on Tuesday, said that her secret weapon against the cold was hidden inside her thick winter gloves: a thin pair of rubber gloves.

“They keep the moisture in, so the air can’t float through,” she said, adding that any kind of thin, rubbery gloves — the kind that doctors and nurses wear — are effective.

Ms. Ellis, who works as a crossing guard one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, said she had picked up the tip from her father, who owned a carwash and spent many hours of his day outside in the Chicago winter.