Wednesday's dangerous cold was a shock to the system for even the heartiest Wisconsinites.
It was unimaginable for Daniel Szetu Gomez, a software engineering student at MSOE who hails from Venezuela.
He said days such as Wednesday don't exist there.
"It's always been around 30 degrees Celsius — which is about 90 degrees Fahrenheit," Szetu Gomez said of his hometown. "That's year-round."
"So Wisconsin winter — what do you think so far?" TODAY'S TMJ4 asked him.
"It's cold and windy," he replied with a laugh.
Szetu Gomez, who is a dual citizen of Venezuela and Colombia, where he lived for three years, said he'd never experienced bone-chilling cold, or even snow, until he arrived in Milwaukee.
"The lowest temperature I'd experienced was like 10 degrees Celsius, which is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, until I came here," he said. "Now I know what real cold is."
He dreamed of warmer weather while scrolling through photos on his phone of Venezuela, where his parents still live,
"It must be nice to be there right now," Szetu Gomez said.
"The boots are working well. But the gloves, not so much. I already feel my fingers getting cold. My face is really cold. It's like somebody is putting a block of ice on my face." — Daniel Szetu Gomez
TODAY'S TMJ4 ventured outside with Szetu Gomez for a few minutes Wednesday afternoon just to capture his reaction to the dangerously cold temperatures.
He wore a sweatshirt, coat, hat, gloves and heavy-duty boots as he headed into the elements.
"This is the coldest day of my life," Szetu Gomez said.
"The boots are working well. But the gloves, not so much. I already feel my fingers getting cold," he said. "My face is really cold. It's like somebody is putting a block of ice on my face."
But Szetu Gomez said, if forced to choose, he'd still opt for the four seasons of the Midwest over the constant warmth of Venezuela.
"I feel like back home the weather is just plain compared to here," he said. "Because here, I have so much variety."
