Updated: 01/22/2013 9:59 PM
Created: 01/21/2013 1:49 PM KSTC45.com | Print Story | Email
By: Scott Theisen

Minnesotans Bundle Up as Bitter Cold Continues

Homeless people scrambled to find shelter, some schools shut down or started late and plumbers wrestled with frozen pipes Tuesday as the upper Midwest endured a third straight day of bitter cold temperatures.

Authorities suspect exposure has played a role in at least three deaths in the Midwest so far.

The coldest location in the lower 48 states Monday was Embarrass, Minn., at 36 below.

On Sunday it was Babbitt, Minn., at 29 below, according to the National Weather Service.

Schools across the region either started late or didn't open at all Tuesday. Districts in Duluth, Minn., and Ashland, Bayfield, Hurley, Washburn and Superior in far northern Wisconsin closed amid warnings that the wicked wind chills could freeze exposed flesh within a minute.

KSTP.com Meteorologist Ken Barlow said temperatures in the Twin Cities were below zero for more than 30 consecutive hours before reaching 1 degree in Minneapolis and 2 degrees in St. Paul late Tuesday afternoon. To the northwest of the Twin Cities temperatures remained at zero of below early Tuesday evening.

He says highs should get back into the teens on Wednesday and Thursday, with a few inches of snow possible on Thursday.

Click here for a list of school closings with KSTP.com's School Alert.

Click here to track your weather conditions with KSTP.com.

Click here for tips on keeping your pets safe in this cold weather.

The Associated Press Contributed to this Report.