Seems like every year or two someone freezes to death because they tried to walk to that farmhouse just over there...
Distances on the prairie can be deceiving, especially at night. What looks a half mile away is often much farther.
Best to stay with shelter. If you can't read the house number, or count the steps to the front door, it is likely too far to walk in subzero cold. Very few people dress for the weather (even here in ND) adequately enough to be out in it any length of time, and a half hour can kill you.
When he was in the Air Force in the early '60s, a couple of buddies and he got drunk while parked on a remote highway in Montana in the deep winter. Once they sobered up, the car wouldn't start, so he walked to some farmhouse many miles away.
He made it, and woke up the VERY unhappy farmer, but the guy came out and helped jump start their car.