Brayden, Rachel, and Steven Hueston, from left, walk their pinscher Bell and German shepherd Bear past the Hunter Museum of American Art in below-freezing temperatures Friday.

As the Scenic City braces for an onslaught of winter weather, Chattanooga area pet owners should keep their furry friends in mind while making preparations to combat the cold.

The approaching storm could bring the coldest temperatures to the area since 2003, and could set a record, Tony Reavley, chief of Hamilton County Emergency Services, said after a Saturday afternoon conference call with National Weather Service officials.

"It's going to be 60-plus hours below freezing," Reavley said. "That's going to create issues within itself."

Starting tonight, rain will be changing over to snow with a possible accumulation of 1 to 3 inches, according to NWS officials. Winds will be at 15 to 30 mph from the northwest as the front moves through, and the wind chill will be zero to 5 degrees in the valley and 5 to 15 below zero in the mountains by Monday morning. The low Monday night to Tuesday morning will be 5 degrees and the high Tuesday will be 23.

"It's going to be dangerously cold," said Amy Maxwell, spokeswoman for Hamilton County EMS. "We're talking exposure within a few minutes. If you're going to be outside in the next couple of days, frostbite and hypothermia can begin to develop in a few minutes."

And animals are just as vulnerable to the cold as people, Maxwell said.

With severe weather coming in, the Chattanooga Zoo has been checking its back-up generators and propane heaters to make sure they're working properly in case the zoo loses power, Executive Director Dardenelle Long said.

"Some animals can be lost in a matter of hours," Long said.

Although some of the zoo's animals, such as the snow leopards, will be fine in the cold, some of the animals from "more tropical climates" will be locked inside to protect them, Long said. She said older animals are more susceptible to the cold and could become confused or disoriented and forget to seek shelter.

"Animals that are warm-weather animals, they either are kept inside or have access to inside quarters at certain temperatures," said Marissa Ogles, director of marketing and communications at the Chattanooga Zoo. "We also provide extra bedding and heaters and heat lamps, and so on and so forth to help keep them warm."

With the oncoming intense cold, Long suggested that pet owners make sure their animals have plenty of fresh, unfrozen water, plenty of food to provide more calories for animals working to stay warm and some form of shelter from wind and weather.

Winter weather suggestions for concerned pet parents are also available from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

In cold weather, the ASPCA suggests that owners make sure their pets have a warm place to sleep, off the floor and away from drafts. Provide a coat or sweater for short-haired pets and never leave a pet alone in a car, which can "act as a refrigerator" and hold in cold temperatures.

For bird-feeding enthusiasts, Wild Birds Unlimited offers several tips on its website to help wild birds weather the winter. These include providing some sort of shelter, such as a roosting box or evergreen trees and shrubs, using a heated bird bath to provide water and feeding birds with high-calorie and high-fat foods, such as oil sunflower seeds or suet.

Contact staff writer Alex Harris at aharris@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.