MADISON (WKOW) – Life-threatening cold is setting up as temps fall below zero tonight and stay there through Friday morning.

FORECAST

Temps tumble to -25 to -30 tonight, but with brisk winds out of the west up to 25 mph, wind chills will be anywhere from -45 to -60.

-54° in 1986 was the coldest wind chill ever recorded in Madison.

Wind chills stay around -30 to -50 through the daylight hours of Thursday with actual highs around -3.

Then temps crash back to around -30 to -35! -37 is the coldest we’ve ever felt in Madison, back on January 30, 1951.

By Friday afternoon, temps finally warm to the teens.

Temps get above freezing this weekend: full forecast



IMPACT

This is life-threatening cold. Exposed skin will see signs of frost bite after just five minutes. Know the signs of hypothermia!

MORE ON MARS

Overnight lows on Mars plunge to -80F to -250F nightly because that planet has a very thin atmosphere.

But during the day, temps right now are getting to near zero or even above freezing.

And Wisconsin’s daytime highs aren’t going to get above zero til midday Friday.