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So cold, an ice rink closes and icicles chill a fire truck

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 6, 2007

A bone-chilling cold wave with temperatures as low as 42 below zero shut down schools for thousands of youngsters Monday, sent homeless people into shelters and put car batteries on the disabled list from the northern Plains across the Great Lakes. At least five deaths were linked to the cold weather.

The cold was accompanied by snow that was measured in feet in parts of upstate New York.

"Anybody in their right mind wouldn't want to be out in weather like this," Lawrence Wiley, 57, said at Cincinnati's crowded Drop Inn Center homeless shelter, where he has been living. Monday lows were in the single digits.

It was so cold that Toledo, Ohio - 5 above zero at noon, up from 4 below - even closed its outdoor ice rink.

"The irony is not lost on us," said city spokesman Brian Schwartz.

Temperatures dropped below zero in Minnesota on Saturday morning and were expected to remain there until sometime today, the weather service said. In northern Minnesota, the temperature crashed to 42 below Monday morning at Embarrass, 38 below at Hallock and 30 below at International Falls, the weather service said.

Veterinarian Wade Himes wasn't too concerned as he ate breakfast at the Shorelunch Cafe in International Falls.

"We get up and go to work, and people come and see us. I don't think anything changes that much. (You) just dress warm," said Himes, 69.

Hayward, Wis., fell to 27 below, and wind chills around the state dipped to nearly 40 below. The weather service said that Tuesday morning temperatures across Wisconsin would range from 15 below to 25 below.

Amtrak shut down passenger service in parts of western and northern New York state, where the cold was accompanied by as much as 2 1/2 feet of snow fed by moisture from the Great Lakes near Buffalo and Watertown. Whiteout conditions and slippery pavement shut down a 38-mile stretch of the New York Thruway during the night.

At least 30 water main breaks were blamed on the cold in Detroit, city officials said.

Citing bitter cold and ice buildup on some Mississippi River locks and dams, the Army Corps of Engineers on Monday announced limits on the widths of barge tows on nearly 100 miles from Clarksville, Mo., south to near St. Louis.

Less than zero fun 

COCOA INSTEAD OF CLASS: Subzero cold shut down Ohio districts and idled 90,000 students in Wisconsin, 34,000 in upstate New York and kids in parts of Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota.

BROKEN RECORDS: Grand Forks, N.D., dipped to 31 below, 3 degrees lower than in 1982 and 1967. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area stayed below zero for 63 hours, the longest stretch since 2004.

FROZEN BATTERIES: Car owners faced dead batteries and frozen locks, with 10,000 motorists calling AAA Michigan for help over the weekend.

FIVE DEATHS: Weekend cold contributed to motorist deaths in Kentucky and Michigan, and two deaths from exposure in Kentucky and Ohio.

[Last modified February 6, 2007, 01:31:44]