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By Elisha Fieldstadt
Heavy snowfall grounded flights and shuttered schools Monday in the Midwest, which can’t expect much relief later in the week either when temperatures are expected to plunge to record lows.
More than 500 flights into and out of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport were canceled by 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET) Monday with another 250 canceled at the Chicago Midway International Airport as the National Weather Service warned of 6 to 8 inches of accumulating snow in the city by evening. Freezing rain was also expected to make ice rinks out of runways and roadways.
Heavy snow and freezing rain in North Dakota prompted the state’s department of transportation to issue a travel advisory in at least a dozen cities.
Schools and government buildings in Wisconsin and Minnesota were closed Monday as parts of those states braced for almost a foot of snow. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency as the weather there worsened.
The same areas can expect life-threatening cold by Tuesday.
Minneapolis and Green Bay, Wisconsin, will suffer through about 80 hours with temperatures below zero, while Chicago will face 60 hours of the frigid temperatures.
Wednesday could be one of Chicago’s coldest days ever with the high forecast to be only minus 8-degrees, according to NBC Chicago. Officials there urged people to stay inside during the cold spell and work from home if possible.
One of the coldest days in Chicago history came in January 1994, when the mercury only rose to minus 11-degrees.
About 18 million people across 14 states from the northern Plains to the Ohio Valley were under wind chill alerts Monday morning, but the Midwest would be the worst affected — with some areas experiencing wind chills of minus 60-degrees, according to the NWS. Repeat: Negative 60.
“That’s quite dangerous. You’re talking about frostbite and hypothermia issues very quickly, like in a matter of minutes, maybe seconds,” Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, told The Associated Press.
Both the University of Iowa and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana canceled classes through Thursday. The last time Notre Dame closed in response to weather was five years ago.
A not-quite-as-brutal cold front will move to the Northeast later in the week. The region can expect wind chills dipping to minus 20-degrees.
