BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) A deadly arctic deep freeze enveloped the Midwest with record-breaking temperatures on Wednesday, triggering widespread closures of schools and businesses, and the canceling of more than 1,500 flights from Chicagos airports. The cold even prompted the U.S. Postal Service to suspend mail delivery to a wide swath of the region.
Many normal activities shut down and residents huddled inside as the National Weather Service forecast plunging temperatures from one of the coldest air masses in years. The bitter cold is the result of a split in the polar vortex that allowed temperatures to plunge much further south than normal.
In Chicago, temperatures were still dropping after plunging early Wednesday to minus 19 degrees, breaking the days previous record low set in 1966. Snowplows were idled overnight in southwestern Minnesota, where temperatures dropped to negative 29 degrees.
In addition to the flight cancelations in Chicago at OHare International Airport and Midway International Airport, the extreme cold prompted Amtrak to cancel all trains into and out of Chicago.
Officials throughout the region were focused on protecting vulnerable people from the cold , including the homeless, seniors and those living in substandard housing. Some buses were turned into mobile warming shelters to help the homeless in Chicago.
Governors in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan declared emergencies as the worst of the cold threatened on Wednesday. In Chicago, major attractions closed because of the bitter cold, including the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Art Institute and the Field Museum.
These (conditions) are actually a public health risk and you need to treat it appropriately, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday. They are life-threatening conditions and temperatures.
A wind chill of minus 25 (negative 32 degrees Celsius) can freeze skin within 15 minutes, according to the National Weather Service.
In Michigan, homeless shelters in Lansing were becoming overloaded, Mayor Andy Schor said. They also were filling up in Detroit.
People dont want to be out there right now, said Brennan Ellis, 53, who is staying at the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries.
Detroits outlook was for Wednesday overnight lows around minus 12 (negative 24 degrees Celsius), with wind chills dropping to minus 35 (negative 37 degrees Celsius).
At least four deaths were linked to the weather system Tuesday, including a man struck and killed by a snow plow in the Chicago area, a young couple whose SUV struck another on a snowy road in northern Indiana and a Milwaukee man found frozen to death in a garage.
A popular saying goes: Neither snow nor rain nor heat … will stop the mail from being delivered. But extreme cold will on Wednesday.
The U.S. Postal Service said it would suspend mail delivery on Wednesday in parts or all of several Midwest states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Hawaii native Charles Henry, 54, was staying at a shelter in St. Paul, Minnesota, and said he was grateful to have a place to stay out of the cold.
