ST. CLOUD -- Brace yourself for some bone-numbing cold weather. Highs are forecasted to be in the teens below zero both Tuesday and Wednesday with lows around 30 below.  A Wind Chill Warning will be in effect from Tuesday morning into Thursday morning.

DNR Climatologist Pete Boulay says its been a while since we've experienced temperatures this cold in St. Cloud.

So what we have basically is some of the coldest air we've seen in at least 10 years coming down.  The last time we had somewhat colder than minus 30s in St. Cloud was back in 2009, so it's been quite a while, and this should be colder than that.

Boulay says this week will be even colder than what we experienced during the polar vortex winter in 2014. He says the cold temps will be similar to January of 1994 when then Governor Arne Carlson closed schools statewide for two days in a row.

We had six straight days of minus 30 or colder in 1994, so we're not going to quite match that but it will give you a taste of what it was like then.  Everybody's cars will get a good test to see how they do.

Boulay says one big difference between this week and the cold stretch back in 1994 will be the wind. He says we're expecting stronger winds this week to drop the wind chill factor down, compared to the very calm winds that we had back in 1994.

On January 18, 1994, Governor Arne Carlson ordered all Minnesota public schools closed due to the extreme cold and severe winter weather. Morning air temperature readings were -26 degrees F in the Twin Cities at 9 am with a wind chill temperature of -48 degrees F (by the 2001 formula).

On the same date that the Minnesota state record minimum temperature record was set on February 2, 1996 (-60 near Tower) Governor Arne Carlson canceled schools for cold a second time. In the Twin Cities at 6 am February 2, 1996, the air temperature was -30 degrees F with a wind chill temperature of -48 degrees F (based on the 2001 forumula).

Governor Carlson canceled schools for a third time on January 16, 1997. Wind Chill Temperatures were -32 degrees F in the Twin Cities.

Governor Mark Dayton canceled K-12 public schools statewide on Monday, January 6th, 2014 due to extreme windchills that were forecasted well in advance.

Boulay says we could set a record for the coldest high temperature ever on Tuesday, which is currently 15 below.  But, he says for the most part St. Cloud has been down this cold road before.

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