As temperatures dropped well below zero Monday, city and county officials warned residents to be cautious of the deadly cold.
“These are life-threatening temperatures,” a Dane County statement warned.
A city statement urged residents to keep several days supply of water and food on hand in case subzero temperatures prevented them from leaving the house.
![Few ventured out into the cold today, leaving State Street and the Capitol unusually baron.](https://badgerherald.com/wordpress/media/2014/01/bitter-cold-648x484.jpg)
According to the city, Madison saw a series of closures Monday, including public health clinics, due to the cold. Dane County also issued a series of warnings and alerts to the extreme windchill.
Meanwhile, a Storify from Channel 3000 showed some local residents found a way to have fun in bitter situation, testing to see if water thrown outdoors would immediately turn to ice. Spoiler alert: It does.
A tweet from Chelsea Bliefernicht of Watertown, Wis. read: “Going outside to throw water in the air and watch it freeze. Because what else do you do during a #polarvortex?”
https://twitter.com/cbliefernicht/status/420381076201037824
See what happens when I throw a thermos of boiling water into the frigid air in Madison: http://t.co/lVX7m7ONo5
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) January 6, 2014
At 9 p.m., the temperature in Madison was 14 degrees below zero. According to a Dane County alert, local temperatures could drop to -45 degrees overnight and into Tuesday morning.
[Photos by Chris Lotten, The Badger Herald]