A frosty view of Lake Michigan Wednesday morning
The streets were eerily empty Wednesday as Milwaukee's coldest weather in nearly a quarter century shut down the city to a degree even the most severe snow storms rarely do. After a day of high temperatures of just -8 and brutal wind chills of nearly -50, Milwaukee Public Schools announced that schools will be closed for the fifth day in a row on Thursday, and much of the county is following suit, preparing for yet another day of potentially deadly cold.
Milwaukee County circuit courts and offices will be closed again on Thursday, after Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele declared a winter weather emergency. The Milwaukee County Zoo will be closed again Thursday, as well. For those looking for something to do, Milwaukee Public Libraries will be open from 1-6 p.m., but all children's and teen programs have been canceled for the day.
On Reddit, users catalogued business closings, compiling an enormous scroll of malls, restaurants and cafes that are taking the day off. As a rule of thumb, if you think a business might be closed today, it probably is.
Wisconsin isn't the only state caught in the polar vortex's grip. The U.S. Postal Service made the rare move of halting mail delivery in all or parts of eight states, including Wisconsin, while Amtrak has canceled train rides to Chicago. Dozens of flights in and out of Mitchell International Airport have been canceled as well.
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The high temperature on Thursday is expected to be -2, and adding insult to injury, the extreme cold will be followed by a snow chaser. “Record breaking lows are also expected Thursday,” the National Weather Service in Milwaukee tweeted. “Light snow moves in for most of the area Thursday afternoon/evening with up to 2” possible.”
Mercifully, relief is on the way. Temperatures will climb into the mid-40s by Sunday, a drastic swing in temperatures even for a city where we should be used to them by now.
