Sharp cold wave shocks upper Midwest, temps to -36

BISMARCK, N.D. — Residents of the upper Midwest bundled up or just stayed inside Tuesday as a wave of bitterly cold air barreled south out of the Arctic, following on the heels of a fast-moving blizzard.

Some schools closed because of the cold and temperatures hit the single digits as far south as Kansas and Missouri.

The coldest air spilled across the Canadian prairie into the Dakotas and Minnesota. Grand Forks, N.D., dropped to a record low of 37 degrees below zero Tuesday morning, lopping six degrees off the old record set in 1979, the National Weather Service said.

In northern Minnesota, it was 35 below zero in Roseau and 36 below in Hallock, with wind chills down to 45 below in Hibbing. Just to the north, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, also hit minus 36, according to Environment Canada.

In North Dakota, the Minot area got 6 inches of snow, on top of about a foot that fell late last week, and Bismarck collected 4. Bismarck, Fargo and Grand Forks all broke snow records for December, each with more than 30 inches.

Road departments have had little time to clear away the snow between storms.

"Four-wheel drives are useless — people are just snowed in," said Rhonda Woodhams, office manager for the Williams County, N.D. "People are calling in saying they're out of milk and diapers for their kids, or they have doctor appointments they need to get to. We're doing our best. And we don't need no more snow."

"It's like a sea of whiteness; people can't see the road," said Rebecca Arndt, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation in Mankato. "When the white fluffy stuff starts to blow, it is not pretty."

The weight of the snow in Bismarck collapsed a roof during the weekend and crushed nine mint-condition muscle cars from the 1960s and 1970s, said Steven Jaskoviak, owner of Skovy's Autoplex. He estimated their value at more than $300,000.

"Those can be replaced," Jaskoviak said Monday. "But by the grace of God, no one was hurt. We had more than 100 people in the showroom on Saturday, and if it would have happened then there would have been loss of life."

Dozens of Iowa schools were closed Tuesday or opened late and travel was not recommended across much of the northern part of the state because of the combination of the cold — minus 14 in Mason City with a wind chill of 37 below — and the 2 to 4 inches of windblown snow the storm delivered Monday.