International Falls, Minn.

A look over the Rainy River towards Canada on a brutally cold morning in January 2010 from iWitness Weather contributor bogwoman

Imagine spending more than four days with outdoor temperatures never climbing above zero. That's what residents of have endured this week.

Subzero temperatures gripped this city along the U.S./Canadian border from around 6 p.m. on Saturday January, 19 to just before 10 p.m. on the evening of Thursday January, 24. That's more than 115 hours in a row with temperatures below zero, capped off by a low of -36 degrees on Thursday morning.

As impressive as this streak may seem, it comes nowhere close to their record longest streak of subzero temperatures.

In 1924, the so-called "Icebox of the Nation" spent 432 consecutive hours, or 18 days, without seeing the mercury in the thermometer rise above zero! While you may think 18 days is some sort of record for the entire lower 48 states, it doesn't come anywhere close.

spent an incredible 41 consecutive days with temperatures below zero from January 11 to February 20 in 1936, .

Of course, subzero temperatures are no stranger to International Falls, . On average, the city sees 58 days with temperatures below zero each year.

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Tuesday Highs

By early next week, highs will head above average into the twenties.

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This will be a part of a large-scale warmup that will take over eastern half of the nation early next week. Our forecast temperature map for Tuesday shows highs in the 60s as far north as Missouri and Illinois. 50s may sneak into and .

However, this warmup will not stick around for long as a cold front slices through dropping temperatures back down again a day or so later.

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A temperature of -52 degrees Celsius (-61.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is measured in Oymyakon, Russia. (Photo credit: Bolot Bochkarev)