Many south and southwest suburban school districts Tuesday switched to remote learning due to the extreme weather, coming a day after schools were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

With Tuesday’s high temperature expected to register barely above zero, and the wind making it feel well below that, schools opted to forgo in-person teaching.

Arctic air was smothering the eastern two-thirds of the country, with a storm system bringing snow to areas of Texas and Gulf Coast towns such as Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida, where forecasts said 4 or more inches of snow were possible.

Locally, the brutal cold was expected to ease by Wednesday, with temperatures in the low to mid-20s, and the Chicago area seeing the low 30s by Saturday.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office reported the death Monday of an 88-year-old Palos Heights woman was due in part to exposure to the cold.

Communities including Flossmoor, Oak Forest and Orland Park reported no major problems due to the weather.

Tim Kristin, Oak Forest city administrator, said crews were out Tuesday morning taking care of a couple water main breaks, but that “nothing out of the normal” was reported due to the extreme cold.

Pat Carr, village manager in Tinley Park, said a few water main breaks sprang up Tuesday, “but nothing that has really impacted operations.” He said there had been no ambulance calls related to the cold or people coming to the village’s warming center.

Matteson reported a water main break that was expected to be fixed by sometime Wednesday.

Some high school districts shifted to remote learning, including Thornton Township 205, High School District 218 in Blue Island and Palos Heights, Bremen High School District 228 and Orland Park High School District 230.

Elementary districts that opted for e-learning Tuesday included Oak Lawn-Hometown District 123, Cook County School District 130, which operates schools in Blue Island and Crestwood, Orland School District 135, Kirby School District 140 in Tinley Park and Dolton West School District 148 in Dolton and Riverdale.

Schools that were teaching remotely had also canceled after-school activities Tuesday.

In some instances, students took part in classroom instruction remotely, or receiving assignments online to complete at home. Some districts were giving students additional time to complete e-learning courses to accommodate any technology or internet issues the weather may have caused.

Lockport Township High School District 205 drew some criticism from parents for deciding to have in-person classes Tuesday, notifying families of the action Monday.

In a message to families Tuesday, District 205 Superintendent Robert McBride said the decision was made because most of the elementary districts that feed into the high school were also having students report to class.

Will County Elementary District 92 in Lockport was conducting in-person learning, while another Lockport elementary district, Fairmont, had opted for remote learning.

McBride told families the National Weather Service had forecast wind chills in the Joliet area at 17 below for Tuesday morning, and that his district generally doesn’t switch to e-learning unless wind chills are at least 25 below zero.