Cold weather advisory issued across the North

A rush of brisk air settled onto the North Woods last Friday, sending temperatures plummeting to about -50 degrees with wind chills across much of the area.

The icy temperatures continued throughout the weekend and into Monday, with an extreme cold advisory being issued across the northern half of the state. During the cold snap, weather officials urged people to stay home, or bundle up if they had to leave their homes.
This led to a number of area events being postponed, and some businesses staying shuttered on Friday. Some communities opened warming shelters to residents, while a number of school districts closed on Friday as well as Monday.

Meteorologists at WJFW reported that the feels-like temperatures early Friday morning was at -56 degrees because of the wind. Later in the morning, feel-like temps ranged from -40 to -50 degrees, with actual temperatures hovering around -30.

Saturday came close to breaking records, WJFW said, with lows dropping past -35 degrees for much of the North Woods. Rhinelander’s coldest temperature on record for that date was -38 degrees in 1935.

Residents were again urged to bundle up when heading to work Monday morning, as it was another cold start with air temperatures reaching -20 degrees and colder. With the added breeze, it pushed the feel-like temperatures to -30 or -40 degrees.

After a cold start in the morning, temperatures started rising Monday, reaching above-zero in the evening. They remained in the single-digits early in the week, and are expected to get into the 20s by this weekend.