CHICAGO — The arctic air mass that froze water pipes in Minnesota during the weekend is sticking around in some parts of the upper Midwest.
El Niño brought about a mild winter at the beginning, but a blast of dangerously cold temperatures moved east across the Northern Plains and Great Lakes on Sunday.
Temperatures bottomed out at 36 degrees below in Fosston in northwest Minnesota. It was so cold in western Minnesota that traffic lights went dark Sunday morning in Montevideo when a transformer blew. And in northern Minnesota, one homeowner’s bid to thaw pipes caused a fire that led to $37,000 damage, WDIO-TV reported.
Meanwhile, parts of Illinois were in the single digits Monday, the second day with such frigid air.
It was the same in southern Indiana, where officials trying to stem the spread of a bird flu virus in turkey farms over the holiday weekend ran into problems when hoses that sprayed a poultry-suffocating foam froze.
Many cities sought to ensure that no one succumbed to the cold. The Indianapolis Star reported that the state Department of Homeland Security would send anyone needing shelter from the weather Sunday and Monday to a Salvation Army facility.
In Wisconsin, authorities said a 21-year-old woman likely died of exposure to subzero temperatures in Milwaukee; medical examiners said she was apparently intoxicated when she left a house party. Surveillance video showed she collapsed outside of a residence and a passer-by found her.
Snow accompanied the drop in temperatures in northern and western Michigan, where up to 16 inches of snow fell over 24 hours in Honor, and Traverse City received 10 inches. A march in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day was canceled in Grand Rapids because of road conditions.
