Here are some of the salient facts about this brutal cold front.
— The Midwest will be colder Wednesday than parts of Antarctica and Alaska.
The high Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa, will be a bitter minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Wednesday’s high at McMurdo Station in Antarctica will be a comparatively mild 17 degrees, according to weather.com. Fairbanks, Alaska, will also be warmer during the day Wednesday than Des Moines, with a high of 4 degrees.
— You could get frostbite in five minutes.
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With wind chills in Minneapolis-St. Paul expected to be as low as minus 45 to minus 65 degrees from Tuesday night through Thursday morning, the National Weather Service is warning people that any exposed skin could get frostbite in as little as five minutes.
— The last time Chicago faced temperatures this low was more than 30 years ago.
The predicted low in Chicago on Wednesday night is minus 24 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the National Weather Service, the last time it was that cold in Chicago was Jan. 20, 1985, when Chicago set its low temperature record of minus 27 degrees. With the wind chill, it could feel like minus 55.
— Hundreds of schools are being closed.
Detroit and Milwaukee closed all public schools Tuesday. Minneapolis has closed schools both Tuesday and Wednesday. Chicago Public Schools canceled all after-school activities Tuesday and all classes and activities Wednesday. Many other public, private and parochial schools across the region have closed as well.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.