Arctic Air Hits Madison Area, Shelters Adjust Rules, Warming Centers Open

MADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – We’re experiencing our coldest temperatures so far this winter. 

Madison had lows of -13° overnight into Monday. The coldest windchills have been near -20°. You can get frostbite in 20-30 minutes in weather that cold. 

Tuesday, our high is 1°. After that though, things will start to get more reasonable Wednesday. 

Two Madison shelters are currently operating under “cold weather night” rules, according to the Madison Homeless Consortium. That means they won’t turn anyone away due to capacity limits or suspensions. 

That includes Porchlight Men’s Shelter and the Salvation Army Women’s Shelter. The cold weather night rules are expected to end on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Middleton has opened warming centers. Normally, those warming centers include City Hall, the library, and the senior center. However, because it’s a federal holiday, they’re closed. They’ll be back open Tuesday. If people need a warm place on Monday, they can go to the Middleton Police Department or Middleton Fire Department.