UW-Madison

For Only the Second Time Since 2019, UW-Madison Calls Off Classes for the Cold

Friday, January 23, 2026WIwinter stormemergency notificationmedium confidence

An Extreme Cold Warning for Dane County with wind chills of -30 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit led the University of Wisconsin-Madison to cancel all classes on Friday, January 23, 2026 — a rare step the university last took during the January 2019 polar vortex. Students were notified Thursday evening via WiscAlert. Campus buildings, housing, the Wisconsin Union and food services all stayed open on their regular schedules.

Alerts: 1
Response: —
Killed: —
Injured: —

Institution

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Public R1 · WI

WiscAlert

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMSThursday evening, January 22, 2026

Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from UW-Madison News258 chars

WiscAlert: An Extreme Cold Warning is in effect for Dane County. All UW-Madison class meetings on Friday, Jan. 23 are canceled, including lectures, labs and discussion sections. Campus buildings and services remain open. Employees should report as scheduled.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from UW-Madison News and student-paper coverage; the cancellation of all class meetings 'including lectures, labs and discussion sections' is quoted from the university's announcement, but the precise WiscAlert SMS wording was not recovered.

The alert carefully separates class cancellation from campus closure: buildings, housing and dining stayed open and employees were still expected to report, a distinction UW-Madison stresses in its inclement-weather policy.

Context

Background

The University of Wisconsin-Madison almost never cancels classes for weather; before January 23, 2026, the last weather cancellation was the January 2019 polar vortex. An Extreme Cold Warning for Dane County, with wind chills forecast at -30 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, prompted the university to notify students Thursday evening via WiscAlert that all Friday classes were canceled. The cancellation applied to every class meeting, but per UW-Madison's inclement-weather policy, campus buildings, University Housing, the Wisconsin Union and food services remained open and employees were expected to report. The Daily Cardinal reported that a student Change.org petition had circulated ahead of the decision. WiscAlert and the campus alerts website are the university's authoritative channels for these notifications.

Analysis

Key Findings

UW-Madison canceled all Friday, January 23, 2026 classes for extreme cold (wind chills of -30 to -40 F), only its second weather cancellation since the January 2019 polar vortex

The decision canceled class meetings only; buildings, housing, dining and the Wisconsin Union stayed open and employees still reported, a deliberate class-vs-closure distinction

Students were notified Thursday evening via WiscAlert, and a student petition had circulated beforehand, reflecting the rarity and high salience of a UW-Madison snow/cold day

Outcome

All UW-Madison class meetings were canceled Friday, January 23, 2026, but campus buildings and services remained open and employees were expected to report. Normal operations resumed afterward.

Provenance

Sources

Official
Weather update: Friday classes canceled - UW-Madison News
news.wisc.edu
Student Paper
UW cancels Friday classes due to extreme cold - The Badger Herald
badgerherald.com
Student Paper
UW-Madison cancels classes Friday due to extreme cold - The Daily Cardinal
dailycardinal.com
official
Inclement Weather and Emergency Conditions - UW-Madison Policy Library
policy.wisc.edu

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

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