With temperatures plummeting during the polar vortex last week, it is important to focus on the safety of keeping warm during the remainder of the winter season. While school closing on extreme weather days helps keep you inside and warm, it is crucial to know the necessary tips to stay warm if you have to travel outside of the comforts of your home.

“I like winter, but it’s important to dress for the weather,” senior Alyssa Perry said. “Winter is very enjoyable if you know how to keep warm.”

First, it is necessary to have a winter coat with you at all times. Even if you are driving to school and only live five minutes away, you should at least keep a coat in your car at all times should anything happen. If your car broke down or something else happened, you could find yourself spending more time in the bitter cold than anticipated.

Not only does dressing warm allow you to stay positive about the winter months to come, but it keeps you from getting serious harm to your body. Frostbite, which occurs during cold temperatures and frigid wind chills, is a major concern for anyone exposed to the cold.

According to CNN, frostbite “happens when the skin and tissue under it freezes.” The first warning of frostbite is frostnip, in which your skin turns red and you get sharp, pin-like pains in the affected area. This is a sign that you should get indoors as soon as possible, or at least try to warm up with gloves or your own body heat. Never use warming pads to warm up frostbitten areas, CNN says: use warm, never hot, water.

The next stages of frostbite are even more gruesome and include the affected areas turning grayish white and then, eventually, a dark blue that almost appears black.

Avoiding this is simple: dress warm, pay attention to the weather, and only go outside when absolutely necessary on days that the risk is especially high. Look not only at the outside temperature, but the wind chill, too, to determine how seriously you should dress yourself.

“Even though winter is very cold, it doesn’t have to be miserable,” Perry said. “Snow is beautiful and fun and so are things like ice skating and making hot chocolate. All you have to do to have fun with winter is to dress appropriately.”