If you like shivery weather, you’ll be happy for much of the next week. If you don’t, it’s going to be a long and very cold several days. The Big Chill, to borrow a phrase, arrived late last week and will linger for an uncommonly long while.
In Chattanooga, for example, the temperature dropped below freezing Friday evening and it has yet to climb above the 32 degree mark. Forecasters say that the area could remain in the deep freeze until Wednesday, when the thermometer is expected to reach the mid- to, perhaps, upper-30s The reprieve likely will be temporary. More unseasonably cold weather — and perhaps some snow late Thursday or early Friday — will follow the expected warm-up, if a reading below 40 degrees can be called that.
After Wednesday, according to Weather Service forecasters in Morristown, Tenn., the temperature will range from the low 30s to the low tens through the weekend, and perhaps beyond. The cold likely won’t approach record lows, which are in the single digits this time of year, but it will be notable for its duration. The region regularly experiences cold snaps, says Derek Eisentrout, a spokesman for the Weather Service, but rarely one that lasts for as many days as the current event.
The extended, bone-chilling cold, often exacerbated by brisk winds, creates a variety of problems. The cold is especially difficult for the homeless accustomed to sleeping out of doors. That’s dangerous in current conditions, and agencies in the area are providing safer alternatives. The Chattanooga Community Kitchen, for example, is operating as an emergency overnight shelter for homeless people and families until temperatures rise. The willingness to provide a haven from the cold can be life-saving.
More than 100 people slept there on Sunday night. The shelter will provide overnight accommodations as long as extremely low temperatures occur, and similar numbers are expected as long as extremely low temperatures. The agency can use help, though. City officials said Monday that the Community Kitchen is in desperate need of blankets and overnight volunteers. The community should rush to meet the need.
The weather also creates concern for fire officials and social workers. The former worry that conditions might contribute to a rise in the number of house fires. That’s often the case in extremely cold weather, as residents of poorly insulated or inefficiently heated homes turn to space heaters to keep warm. The latter worry that hard-pressed consumers struggling to balance their household budgets will be pushed over the edge by the extra cost of heating their homes during the current cold spell.
Chattanooga and the surrounding area are not alone in dealing with the cold. Much of the Plains, the upper Midwest and Ohio River Valley will have temperatures 30 or 40 degrees below normal by midweek. The entire Southeast will remain unseasonably cold for days. Relief, if forecasters are correct, will be slow in coming. Until it does, keep warm and help those who have difficulty in doing so.