A "polar vortex" of dense and frigid air descended upon much of the U.S. early Monday, which dropped temperatures in some parts of the country to near-record lows, Foxnews.com reported. The weather conditions prompted wind chill warnings from Montana to Alabama, according to news reports.
In the Midwest, forecasts called for temperatures to drop to 32 below zero in Fargo, North Dakota. -21 was expected in Madison, Wisconsin while -15 was expected in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Chicago, according to news reports. "Wind chills could drop into the minus 50s and 60s," Foxnews.com also reported.
"It's just a dangerous cold," Butch Dye, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told the Associated Press.
National Weather Service meteorologist Philip Schumacher "urged motorists in the Dakotas -- where wind chills were as low as the minus 50s -- to carry winter survival kits and a charged cellphone in case they become stranded," according to Foxnews.com.
Temperatures have not been the coldest it has been in almost two decades in many parts of the country.
More than 1,000 flights were canceled Sunday at airports throughout the Midwest including Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis.
"More than 40,000 homes and businesses in Indiana, 16,000 in Illinois and 2,000 in Missouri were without power early Monday," Foxnews.com also reported.
"Temperatures were expected to plummet further Monday, bringing dangerous cold to parts of the U.S. still digging out from heavy snow that fell a day before and made travel treacherous," according to The Associated Press.
