One man's cold weather advice: "Take care of business, and go home"

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- With a Wind Chill Warning in effect, sub-zero temperatures and brutal wind chills Monday, January 6th -- it was certainly a day to layer up if you had to be outside! Authorities warned folks to use common sense -- and to not spend more time outside than you have to as we deal with the coldest weather to hit Wisconsin in nearly two decades.

"It's like being in Antactica!" Jared Petersen said.

Temperatures plunged below zero and settled around -12 or -13 degrees all day -- and the strong winds made a cold day feel nearly unbearable, with a wind chill around -45.

Those who had to be out seemed to be in pain as they scurried off the streets.

"It's so cold.  Oh my god.  And the wind is like the worst thing!" Oona Appel said.

Appel is from Finland, a country known for its long, cold winters.

"We got the same weather -- like degrees -- but the wind is the most terrible part," Appel said.

In Waukesha on Monday, January 6th, the streets were nearly empty.

"It's a ghost town. Everybody's staying inside," Jared Peterson said.

Petersen was making his way to an appointment, and finding the cold air hard to breathe.

"If I breathe in through my mouth, it hurts my lungs," Petersen said.

Public health authorities warned that frostbite could set in in a matter of minutes.

"It hurts my face when it's cold!" Appel said.

In Ozaukee County, Santa's workshop was still set up in Cedarburg, where it felt like the North Pole!

"It is awful.  I am freezing -- and I'm an outside sales rep, so I've been outside all day long when no one else is really working," Britney Albrecht said.

Schools across the state were closed Monday -- including Wisconsin's largest school district. Milwaukee Public Schools has announced it will be closed through Tuesday.

The Milwaukee River was frozen solid!

"If you can handle this, you can handle anything.  It's just good old Milwaukee," Hughey McClinton said.

And McClinton has perhaps the best advice for anyone outside Monday.

"Take care of your business and go on back home," McClinton said.