Bundled up or in front of a warm fire is how many FHS students spent their extended winter break due to record breaking cold weather and snowfall.

Since Christmas, 18 inches of snow has fallen in Detroit, and since Year’s Day, 2,500 miles of major and residential streets have been plowed with more than 4,400 tons of salt spread to keep the streets safe for drivers. However those traveling for the holidays still found the conditions of the roads dangerous to navigate.

“I was going to Buffalo Wild Wings and got stuck in my neighborhood,” senior Addison Ransom said. “It took an hour in -15 degree weather to get it out of the snow, and everyone on the road was going about 20 miles per hour under the speed limit because it was so icy. There were cars stuck everywhere but people would stop and help them which was really nice.”

Large amounts of freezing rain also caused trouble for holiday travelers and left many families without power.

“It was 50 degrees in our house,” sophomore Taylor Haaraoja said. “To stay warm all of my family slept in one room with a space heater plugged into a generator that we had to drive to Livonia to buy. I had to shower at friend’s houses every day until we got power back on Christmas Eve.”

More record breaking weather was experienced by Mid-Michigan on the final days of break, Jan. 6 and 7. The coldest air to hit Fenton in 20 years swept across the city on Monday.

According to Accutweather.com, residents who were out and about on Monday, Jan. 6 experienced an actual temperature of -21 degrees with wind chills close to 40 below. Many found it was no surprise that school was closed in most of the district.

“It was so cold out on the day we were supposed to return from winter break (Monday) that I was thankful I didn’t have to leave my house,” Haaraoja said. “I heard on the news that being outside with exposed skin for more that twenty minutes could lead to frost bite.”