Times-Record editor Nikki Laine Zinke hides her hands inside her coat to ward off frostbite Tuesday morning. Although she had boots, hat and scarf, she said she forgot her gloves at home. (Jay Stephenson/VCTR) 

    BISMARCK (AP) — North Dakotans bundled up to brave out some of the most bone-chilling weather of the season, as life-threatening cold swept into the state.
    Wind chills — the combination of wind and cold — overnight into Tuesday morning dropped to as low as 54 degrees below zero in Garrison, and it was not much warmer anywhere else in the state, according to National Weather Service data.
    A wind chill warning was in effect Tuesday for all of North Dakota, with high temperatures not expected to get above zero and the wind gusting up to 40 mph. The warning in the central and east was to continue into Wednesday morning.
    Dan Riddle, a weather service meteorologist in Grand Forks, said that once wind chills reach 40 below, that office generally warns about ‘‘life-threatening’’ conditions.
    ‘‘Getting lower than minus 40, the body’s ability to keep heat is extremely limited,’’ he said. ‘‘And if anybody’s stranded outside for an extended period of time it would not take very long to certainly cause some life-threatening conditions.’’
    No travel was advised in north central and northeast North Dakota on Monday night because of snow and blowing snow that created near-blizzard conditions in some areas. Many schools in the region started late Wednesday or did not hold classes at all.
    Meteorologist Jim Fors in Bismarck said the weather was to start warming up again on Thursday. By the weekend, high temperatures were expected to be in the teens north to the mid-20s in the southwest.
    ‘‘Just a couple days of some real cold weather, then we’ll start heading upwards again,’’ he said early Tuesday.
    However, Riddle said the region can expect the next 30 days to be colder than average, with surges of arctic air moving down from Canada at any given time. The dry air masses should force a lot of snowstorms south of the region, he said.
    ‘‘It’s always a give and take,’’ Riddle said.