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Andy Baltgalvis, manager of the Bloomington Ice Garden, stands in the building's refrigeration room, where a unit that keeps one of the ice rinks frozen is using about 30 percent more electricity than usual to deal with the heat wave, in Bloomington, Minn Craig Lassig, Associated Press
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FILE - In this July 18, 2011 file photo, Tiffany Carrels, of Lake City, Minn. wipes the sweat from her face with a towel as she sells sweet corn at the side of the road in Northfield, Minn. during the sweltering heat. Workers and residents are contending The Star Tribune, Renee Jones Schneider, File) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT, Associated Press
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Phil Zietlow, 69, of Medina, Minn., waits his turn to hit the ice during a cool break from the upper-90-degree heat outdoors, at his weekly hockey game at the Bloomington Ice Garden in Bloomington, Minn., Tuesday, July 19, 2011. The Minnesota Old Timers c Craig Lassig, Associated Press
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FILE - In this Monday, July 18, 2011 photo, John Kramer wipes away perspiration while working on the construction site for a new Jimmy John's in St. Paul, Minn. Workers and residents are contending with highest temperatures of the summer season as a prolo The Star Tribune, Leah Millis, File, Associated Press
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FILE - In this July 20, 2011 file photo, Jayson Hamler, 7, of Milwaukee, plays in some water outside a school in Milwaukee. Workers and residents in the city are contending with highest temperatures of the summer season as a prolonged stretch of hot, humi Morry Gash, File, Associated Press
By Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — The Upper Midwest is accustomed to extreme temperatures. Just in the opposite direction.

Parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin are suffering through the worst heat wave in more than a decade and leaving some residents longing for a taste of December. The heat index topped 119 degrees Tuesday in Minneapolis. And it felt like 105 degrees in Madison, Wis.

In Minneapolis, workers at a fish house are spending their breaks in a 44-degree room with the pickled herring. An indoor ice rink is using cooling equipment that hasn't run in 10 years, and is expecting a $10,000 spike in this month's utility bill.

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Even at the Minnesota Zoo, known for displaying northern-latitude animals, workers say the heat is making some animals "really crabby." Though the north Asian tigers are enjoying "bloodsicles."

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