Our temperature this afternoon has been fairly steady at -22, but made much worse by a strong northwest wind that makes for some brutal windchill readings. This is forest and lake country, so trees help break the wind, except in open spaces and on lakes where there is blowing snow. It must be especially harsh today in the more open farming country to our west. This morning I drove into town, five miles away, and learned some businesses, including our local medical clinic, were closing early and didn’t plan to be open tomorrow. Area schools are closed today and tomorrow as well. NWS-Duluth forecasts a low of -42 for our area tonight, with blustery conditions creating wind chill values between -55 to -65. Similar conditions are expected through Thursday before there is some improvement. All in all, it’s shaping up to be an especially frigid week here in north central Minnesota.