CHICAGO - As temperatures plummeted into the single digits across the Midwest on Saturday, residents reached for their thermal underwear, worried about the possibility of frozen pipes and huddled indoors as an Arctic wind chill made it feel like 20 below zero.

In some spots, it felt even colder.

As winds and cold air blew in from the northwest in Canada, the National Weather Service reported that parts of Minnesota and North Dakota were hit with wind-chill temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees.

After having survived the coldest night of a young 2008, Northeast Iowa can expect only slightly warmer temperatures the next several days.

The mercury was forecast to dip to minus-15 overnight in Waterloo on Saturday, asNortheast Iowa received the brunt of a cold snap freezing the state.

Lows are expected to hover near zero the next few days, and then warm to a balmy five to 10 degrees by the end of the week.

"It's still going to be cold - not quite as cold as (Saturday night), but still cold," said Brad Phillback, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Des Moines.

The cold weather had many basking in the warm glow of their televisions. Video rental stores reported people were braving a few minutes in the cold to enjoy a cozy night at home.

"Our business is going really well right now, it picks up when it gets cold," Dana Dose, who works at Family Video in Cedar Falls. "We've been keeping very busy."

In Chicago, city officials have spent the past few days advising residents to try to spend as much of the weekend indoors as possible. They pointed out that although the skies were clear and the sunshine bright, the outdoor weather would be cold enough that uncovered skin could suffer from frostbite within 15 minutes.

Emergency teams also opened up three warming centers to aid residents who needed shelter.

While the Windy City is used to cold winters, this weekend's temperatures - which fell about 30 degrees between Thursday and Saturday - came as a shock to those who have grown accustomed in recent years to relatively warm Januarys.

"Last year, this time, our days were in the 30s and 40s. Normal highs here are around 28 degrees," said Bill Nelson, a meteorologist with NOAA's National Weather Service's Chicago-area office in Romeoville, Ill. "Right now, the thermometer at my office is reading a balmy 3 degrees."

Kristine Lillian gasped for breath as she dashed into a grocery store in the city's northern Andersonville neighborhood late Saturday afternoon, eager for a chance to warm up.

She had spent the morning at a friend's house, helping to make food for some under-the-weather neighbors. But when she tried to start her 1987 Toyota Celica to drive home, the car wouldn't start - and her friend doesn't drive.

"I thought I'd try to walk, but I got about six blocks and realized that was just stupid," said Lillian, 23, as she reached for her cell phone to call a taxi. "You can forget me waiting for the bus. Who wants to be outside on a day like this?"

Peter Vandt, a devoted Green Bay Packers fan, didn't care that the weather forecast for Sunday's home game in Wisconsin against the New York Giants promises to have fans at Lambeau Field shivering in near-zero temperatures with a wind-chill factor of minus 20.

"If you're a Packers fan, you don't let a little thing like cold keep you from seeing the team," said Vandt, 54, a construction worker whose family has had Packers seasons tickets for two generations.

He and his 73-year-old father shrugged off the 3-degree day at the NFC championship game in 1997.

"You put on three pairs of socks, long underwear, ski pants, lined boots, four shirts, a couple sweaters, a good coat, gloves, a hat and a scarf," Vandt said. "What? That's not too bad."

Elsewhere, storms spread snow, rain and sleet across Mississippi and Alabama, covering neighborhoods with light dustings of white and causing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.