How to handle the polar vortex
The historic low temperatures are not just uncomfortable, they can pose a serious threat to your health.
Dr. John Torres has written a few tips on how to keep you and your family safe during the brutal cold.
Midwest temperature updates as of 11 a.m. ET
- Chicago checks in at minus 21
- Minneapolis is at minus 26
- Cleveland is at minus 1
- Bismarck, North Dakota is at minus 31
Thousands without power in far southwest Wisconsin
Thousands of residents in Grant County, Wisconsin, don't have power on Wednesday morning, police told NBC affiliate WMTV.
It was 26 below zero, with a windchill of minus 52, in Grant County's largest city, Platteville, at 8:30 a.m. CT.
Hundreds of customers were also dark Beloit and Fitchburg Counties, NBC15 reported.
1,800 flights to and from Chicago canceled, 2,000 across U.S.
More than 1,800 flights into and out of Chicago were canceled by 12:30 p.m. CST (1:30 p.m. EST) Wednesday after record-breaking cold was registered at O'Hare International Airport earlier in the morning.
The mercury dropped to minus 16 degrees at O'Hare at about 2 a.m., breaking the previous record low of minus 15 degrees at the airport, according to NBC Chicago. Nearly 1,500 flights into and out of that airport were canceled and another 333 were canceled at Chicago's Midway Airport, according to FlightAware.com.
Across the U.S., in the midst of a sweeping Midwest cold spell, about 700 additional flights were grounded by 1:30 a.m. EST Wednesday.