A so-called "polar vortex" of dense, frigid air descended upon much of the U.S. early Monday, dropping temperatures in some parts of the country to near-record lows and prompting wind chill warnings from Montana to Alabama.
But it was the Midwest that was due to bear the brunt of the bone-cutting cold. Forecasts called for temperatures to drop to 32 below zero in Fargo, N.D.; minus 21 in Madison, Wis.; and 15 below zero in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Chicago. Wind chills -- what it feels like outside when high winds are factored into the temperature -- could drop into the minus 50s and 60s.
"It's just a dangerous cold," National Weather Service meteorologist Butch Dye, based in Missouri, told the Associated Press.
For most of the Midwest, the cold weather followed close behind a system that had brought a foot of snow and high winds that made traveling risky.
Roads were treacherous across the region. Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard upgraded the city's travel emergency level to "red," making it illegal for anyone to drive except for emergencies or seeking shelter. The last time the city issued such a travel warning was during a blizzard in 1978.
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.
It hasn't been this cold for almost two decades in many parts of the country. Frostbite and hypothermia can set in quickly at 15 to 30 below zero.
The National Weather Service said the snowfall at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport totaled more than 11 inches -- the most since the Feb. 2, 2011, storm that shut down the city's famed Lake Shore Drive.
Elnur Toktombetov, a Chicago taxi driver, woke up at 2:30 a.m. Monday anticipating a busy day. By 3:25 a.m. he was on the road, armed with hot tea and doughnuts. An hour into his shift, his Toyota's windows were still coated with ice on the inside.
"People are really not comfortable with this weather," Toktombetov said. "They're really happy to catch the cab. And I notice they really tip well."
Police in suburban Detroit said heavy snow was believed to have caused a roof to collapse at an empty building in Lake Orion on Sunday evening. No one was hurt. More than 16 inches of snow fell on nearby Flint, Mich.
Missouri transportation officials said it was too cold for rock salt to be effective, and several Illinois roadways were closed because of drifting snow.
Late Sunday night, a bus carrying Southern Illinois University's men's basketball team back from a game against Illinois State got stuck in the snow at the side of Interstate 57. Assistant coach Anthony Beane Sr. told The Southern Illinoisan no one was injured and the plan was for the team to spend the night at a hotel in nearby Tuscola. Beane and the players had to wait for a tow truck to get the bus out of the snow. Beane told the newspaper that if a truck was unable to reach the bus, the Illinois State Police had agreed to help the team get to its hotel.
More than 1,000 flights were canceled Sunday at airports throughout the Midwest including Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis.
Many cities came to a virtual standstill. In St. Louis, where more than 10 inches of snow fell, the Gateway Arch, St. Louis Art Museum and St. Louis Zoo were part of the seemingly endless list of things closed. Shopping malls and movie theaters closed, too. Even Hidden Valley Ski Resort, the region's only ski area, shut down.
Ray Radlich was among the volunteers at New Life Evangelistic Center, a St. Louis homeless shelter, who was braving the cold as part of search teams that seek out the homeless and get them to shelters.
Among those Radlich and his team brought in Sunday was 55-year-old Garcia Salvaje, who has been without a home since his apartment burned last week. Salvaje, a veteran, had surgery three months ago for a spinal problem. The cold makes the pain from his still-healing back intense.
"I get all achy and pained all the way up my feet, to my legs, up my spine," Salvaje said.
School was called off Monday for the entire state of Minnesota, as well as cities and districts in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Iowa, among others. Chicago Public School officials reversed an earlier decision to keep schools open, announcing late in the day Sunday that classes would be canceled Monday.
Government offices and courts in several states closed Monday. In Indiana, the General Assembly postponed the opening day of its 2014 session, and the state appellate courts, including the Indiana Supreme Court, said they would be closed.
More than 40,000 homes and businesses in Indiana, 16,000 in Illinois and 2,000 in Missouri were without power early Monday.
Southern states were bracing for possible record temperatures, too, with single-digit highs expected Tuesday in Georgia and Alabama.
Temperatures plunged into the 20s early Monday in north Georgia, the frigid start of dangerously cold temperatures for the first part of the week. The Georgia Department of Transportation said its crews were prepared to respond to reports of black ice in north Georgia.
Temperatures were also expected to dip into the 30s in parts of Florida on Tuesday. Though Florida Citrus Mutual spokesman Andrew Meadows said it must be at 28 degrees or lower four hours straight for fruit to freeze badly, fruits and vegetables were a concern in other parts of the South.
In western Kentucky, Smithland farmer David Nickell moved extra hay to the field and his animals out of the wind. He'd also stocked up on batteries and gas and loaded up the pantry and freezer. The 2009 ice storm that paralyzed the state and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people is fresh in his mind.
"We are hoping this isn't going to be more than a few days of cold weather, but we did learn with the ice storm that you can wake up in the 19th century and you need to be able to not only survive, but be comfortable and continue with your basic day-to-day functions," Nickell said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/01/06/sub-zero-temperatures-due-to-freeze-midwest-monday/