Many students came back from a much longer winter break than expected. Schools closed statewide because of the “polar vortex” on Monday, January 6.

The polar vortex is a rotating mass of air that is always around. It’s usually found around the poles. Recently, weather patterns have allowed the vortex to come down into parts of the world that don’t see this low of temperatures. This doesn’t affect not just the north, but southern states also, according to accuweather.com.

Other states, such as Illinois, also cancelled school because of the extreme cold.

The Orono school district was closed on Tuesday, January 7, Thursday, January 23, Monday, January 27, and Tuesday, January 28.

Orono district has cancelled in the past because of cold temperatures or heavy snow, a rare occurrence for people of Orono.

“I think it’s very unnatural [that we had five days off of school] and Orono is kind of notorious for never shutting down,” freshman Olivia Torgerson said.

The mysterious polar vortex was known to bring on its coldest temperatures throughout the United States, according to American News.

Governor Dayton took a rare step and cancelled classes statewide Monday, January 6. Temperatures dropped to 25 to 35 degrees below zero, with wind chills of 50 to 60 degrees below zero Monday morning through all of Minnesota according to the Star Tribune.

“It’s a danger to have students out in such cold temperatures,” junior Kevin Randall said.

Students celebrated statewide on the day off. Students were admiring Dayton over social media, like senior Sydney Alberton who Instagramed a picture of Dayton, for Man Candy Monday (#MCM), an instagram fad where users post usually an attractive man or a great man for others to see. “I was so happy that we had no school. he deserved to be on Man Candy Monday,” Albertson said.

Dayton’s announcement was only intended for public schools, however, charter and private schools also agreed to close on Monday, according to the Star Tribune.

However, schools weren’t the only ones that were closed. Flights were delayed, and some local businesses closed earlier or for the day.

The last time that schools were closed statewide, was when Gov. Arne Carlson cancelled classes on January 18, 1994, when windchills reached up to 80 below zero according to Star Tribune. He also called off classes on Feb. 2, 1996 and for a third time on Jan. 16, 1997.

“I don’t think we should have had Tuesday [January 7] off also. I did all of my homework already during the weekend and there was nothing to do on the extra days. I also wouldn’t want to make it up at the end of the year,” junior Nicole Middendorf said.

“The decision to shorten a school day or to close school entirely is based on our ability to get busses on the road,” Superintendent Dr. Karen Orcutt wrote on the school website. “It all starts around 4 a.m. The supervisor of each terminal evaluates weather  conditions and suggests action plans. Each has a designated snow route, which is actually driven to ascertain conditions and evaluate safety.”

Other schools like Benilde St. Margarets, Minnetonka, Mound Westonka, and Wayzata also had the day off on January 7, January 23, January 27, and January 28 .

“I think it was safe to not have school again because Tuesday [January 7] had some of the same conditions as Monday [January 6],” Randall said.