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Dangerous weather ahead

  • Teacher Laura McDermott tries to stay warm Wednesday afternoon as she helps children cross streets after dismissal from Lincoln Elementary. Press photos by Chris Baldus

  • Wind gusts picked up in time Wednesday to greet Charles City High School students as they left school for the day.

By Chris Baldus, cbaldus@charlescitypress.com

It was the kind of night, so clear, that away from city lights you could see the Milky Way. It looks like clouds in space.

A starkly bright white moon dominated Wednesday’s night sky, however.

Still, it was a sight to behold, unless you were still defrosting. Chances are Laura McDermott was more interested in the latter.

McDermott, a teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Charles City had wrapped herself up so well when she went on crossing guard duty Wednesday afternoon that she was nearly unidentifiable.

While she was seeing to students’ safety, the temperature dropped to 7 degrees with a 15 below zero wind chill. Charles City was being buffeted by wind gusts of up to 28 mph.

Take note: You might want to follow McDermott’s example today and through the weekend if you need to go outdoors.

The National Weather Service advisory issued a wind chill advisory for Floyd and surrounding counties on Wednesday that was to expire today. The dangerously cold wind chills could go as low as 30 degrees below zero.

“Take precautions to protect yourself and your pets from the cold,” the advisory says. “Limit outdoor exposure. Bundle up and dress in layers.”

Exposed skin can suffer frostbite in as little as 30 minutes.

Temperatures are expected to rise into the single digits today as a winter storm closes in. Snow is expected to begin tonight.

The storm is expected to track east across the region Friday and Saturday delivering several inches of snow along with the potential for blowing and drifting snow. Forecasters are not certain how much snow, however 5 to 8 inches are possible.

Mitchell, Howard, Floyd and Chickasaw counties are likely to see patchy blowing and drifting snow mostly in open areas throughout today and into the weekend. Travel could be impacted.

The bitter cold spell is spread throughout the Upper Midwest. The National Weather Service says highs ranged from 20 to 30 degrees below average in the northern U.S.

The temperature was 4 below in Fargo, N.D., early Wednesday. A daylight reprieve in the single digits was short-lived, with lows Thursday morning forecast to be around minus-12.

The record cold in Charles City for Dec. 15 is 20 below zero and was set in 1961. The record low for Dec. 16 of 19 degrees below zero was set in 1932

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