It's not exactly the warm-up people are ready for, but Friday's temperatures are a respite to recent record-breaking cold.
"Feels like spring," Brooks Elitzer of Greendale said. "Our dog was outside this morning, and he knows it. It's coming."
Downtown Milwaukee was as busy as it has been all week. People were getting back to work, many for the first time all week. Garbage services resumed Friday after the record-breaking cold, and Milwaukee Public Schools were in session for the first time in a week.
"We get a little break," Ricardo Ortiz said. "I'm glad they're back in school."
Ortiz was happy to drop off his child at school Friday. He had to go to work but had no problem doing so to get back to some normalcy.
"I went outside deliberately yesterday for five minutes just to feel the coldest I've been in my life. At a certain point, it just feels cold. There's really no difference between -20 and -40. It was still cold, cold, cold." — Jayce Jerabek, UWM senior
"Been a little rough with weather," Ortiz said. "Car batteries dying and stuff. At least with the kids, kept them safe and warm in the house."
After spending so much time inside, away from work or school, many people were more excited to see single-digit temperatures than before.
"Human contact?" said Jayce Jerabek, a UWM senior. "What's that?"
Jerabek spent most of the week inside. He did want to see how cold it was this week.
"That is the coldest I've felt," Jerabek said. "I went outside deliberately yesterday for five minutes just to feel the coldest I've been in my life. At a certain point, it just feels cold. There's really no difference between -20 and -40. It was still cold, cold, cold."
Jerabek is on his way to Columbus, Ohio, for a trip with friends. Just yesterday, he wouldn't have been able to go. The Intermodal Station is up and running for the first time since the record cold closed routes. Trains in and out of Chicago are running as well.
