City and county governments, schools and other metro Denver area facilities will close on Thursday, as the arctic air brings dangerously low temperatures to the state.

A good rule of thumb would be to check any business, or government, for its status Thursday before heading out.

Several districts will close Thursday, including 27J Schools in Brighton, Littleton Public Schools and Cherry Creek Public Schools.

Denver Public Schools will remain open, but, with anticipated temperatures remaining below zero degrees and wind chill temperatures expected to be near -40 degrees on Thursday, all DPS school activities will be canceled, according to the district’s website. This includes any middle school and high school sports practices and games scheduled for that day.

Many city and county courts and facilities — in metro Denver and other parts of Colorado — will also close for the severe weather. They include: Jefferson County facilities and courts, Arapahoe County facilities and Adams County buildings; Boulder County, including the 20th Judicial District Court and the District Attorney’s Office, will be closed Thursday and Friday.

Some services will still be available online, the local governments said.

Douglas County announced Wednesday night government offices will be on a two-hour delay as a result of severe weather.

Larimer County said county offices will delay opening until 10 a.m. Thursday. However, courts in the 8th Judicial District will open at normal hours.

The Christkindlmarket, Denver Botanic Gardens and Denver Zoo, including Zoo Lights, will also close.

Frigid weather is expected to hammer Colorado starting Wednesday night, bringing plummeting temperatures and snow to some parts of Colorado.

Commerce City announced all city facilities will be closed Thursday, including the Civic Center and Municipal Court, Municipal Services Center, Bison Ridge Recreation Center, Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, and the Buffalo Run Golf Course and Bison Grill.

The city also announced the Eagle Pointe Recreation Center may be used as an emergency warming center between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Thursday. It will not be open as an overnight shelter. Commerce City referred those in need of overnight shelter to Denver’s system of shelters.

Information about the shelters may be found at DenverGov.org/FindShelter.

Denver is expected to see near -11 degree weather, plus wind chill as low as -23 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service predicts less than a half inch of snow Wednesday on afternoon and another 1 to 3 inches on Wednesday night.

Thursday will see a high of 1 degree, with wind chill as low as -26 degrees, although no new snow is expected.

The NWS issued a wind chill warning starting Wednesday evening, saying the strong arctic air will bring “dangerous wind chill” to northeastern Colorado through Friday. The wind chill can cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as five minutes, the NWS said.