Wind chills remain ‘dangerously cold’ at -20 to -35

The bitter cold isn’t ready to let up quite yet.

“We’ve got a cold 24 hours coming up,” said Rod Swerman, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wis. “Wind chills remain dangerously cold today and tonight.”

The low for Monday night is expected to be 12 below zero. Temperatures will stay in the negatives until Tuesday night, which could hit 5 above. By Wednesday, there should be highs in the teens. But wind chills could reach negative 20 to 35 degrees.

“That’s about as cold as you can really expect to get over bare ground,” Swerman said.

Four or more inches of snow cover acts as insulation from the warm of the ground and reflects warming sunlight, allowing temperatures to drop lower. If snow would have been on the ground, Swerman said the low could have reached 20 or 30 below.

“Snow cover or not could make as much as 10 to 20 degrees difference in temperatures,” he said.

The low Monday morning was 9 below zero. Austin saw a colder temperature on New Year’s Day, at 13 below.