Hey, WE made the national news!
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6661687
Big Chill Clamps Down on Upper Midwest
Dangerously low temperatures chill nation's midsection; schools close across region
By CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO January 16, 2009 (AP) The Associated Press
Forecasters say temperatures in the upper Midwest could be the coldest in years Friday as chilly Arctic air keeps spilling south from Canada.
The bone-numbing blast of arctic air that was also chilling the Northeast had claimed at least five lives and contributed to dozens of traffic accidents as vehicles slipped and slid on icy roads.
Scores of schools in Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois and upstate New York canceled classes for Friday as officials feared it would be dangerous for students to walk to school or wait for buses.
"They're waiting 30 minutes at a bus stop; there's the fear of frostbite and hypothermia," said Champaign Assistant Superintendent Beth Shepperd. "We also have more children walking to school without adequate outerwear."
At 5:30 a.m. Friday it was minus 10 in Cleveland, minus 6 in Detroit and minus 11 in Chicago.
The National Weather Service predicted the subzero temperatures would persist into the weekend. Wind chill warnings were in effect over much of five states advising the cold and strong winds could lead to hypothermia, frost bite and death.
"When you have these cold temperatures, it doesn't take very long for skin to freeze," National Weather Service meteorologist Rod Donavon said.
Iowa City hospitals had treated three people for cold-related injuries by midday Thursday, said University of Iowa Hospitals spokesman Tom Moore. Overnight temperatures there reached minus 24 degrees.
Thursday morning's minus 11 reading — without wind chill — at O'Hare International Airport was the coldest daytime temperature recorded there since 1996, when it got down to minus 14.
The weather system descended from a large, dry air mass that hovered over Alaska and northern Canada for a couple of weeks before moving south. The frostiest conditions were to the north, but the cold stretched as far south as Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
the cold.
This is the coldest I've ever seen it, I had to look twice at the thermometer to make sure I read it right!!
(I'm on the midcoast, it's -43 in the northern part of the state!!)
We have electric baseboard heat, and it just CAN'T KEEP UP!!! We're 
..
