 Well schools are closing because we're expected to see some of the coldest temperatures and wind chills in years. It's happening because the polar vortex is dipping much farther south than it usually does and it's when it usually keeps the bitter cold air in place over the arctic regions of the northern hemisphere. Stacy Christensen joins us a little early tonight to tell us more about what we can expect here in Northland. Right and it's not an exaggeration to say these are life-threatening conditions. Very cold temperatures we've got extreme winds so we're going to have extreme wind chills. We do have a number of warnings and advisories already in fact. Now eventually all of the state of Minnesota will be under a wind chill warning but right now all of northern Minnesota under that wind chill warning until noon on Thursday so this is a multi-day event. A wind chill advisory is out in central Minnesota from midnight to night until 6 a.m. Tuesday and then that will be replaced by a wind chill warning until noon on Thursday and then in that area in western Minnesota winds are picking up so we'll have areas of blowing and drifting snow. So in addition to the wind chill warnings we have a winter weather advisory from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow for western Minnesota. Now already we're seeing some very cold wind chills. We've got wind chills in the 20s and even some 30s below zero but this is just a taste of things to come as this really picks up and those temperatures drop and the winds pick up overnight tonight we can expect wind chills in the 40s and 50s below zero and by Wednesday morning in the 50s to even 60s below zero across northern and central Minnesota. So these are very cold very extreme conditions and of course things can happen bad things can happen wind frostbite etc can happen very quickly with these conditions. Right stay home if you don't need to go anywhere. Exactly. Exactly. Those temperatures are not really going to rebound after the overnight lows I mean. No tonight they're going to drop to about 20 to 25 below and that's where they're going to stay all day tomorrow. We're not going to warm up much but winds are going to pick up as well so those wind chills are really going to be very concerning. All right well thanks Stacy we'll hear more from you here in just a little bit. Well with temperatures predicted to be in the negative 20s and wind chills near negative 60 health officials want to remind everybody to avoid going outside unless absolutely necessary tomorrow it can only take a matter of moments for frostbite to set in on any exposed skin so dress in layers and limit your time outside. Negative 60 degree wind chill like we're forecasted to have is absolutely life-threatening and it only takes a few moments before we really see the issues with frostbite taking effect in terms of extremities. So anything that you don't have to do don't do it'd be a good reason to stay inside for the next couple of days. The youngest and oldest portions of the population are at the most risk in these extreme temperatures. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland news please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.