Arctic air means Code Blue, water main breaks
The deep freeze got even deeper overnight, with temperatures falling to single digits in Quakertown and Doylestown, and subzero windchills in Philadelphia.
The deep freeze got even deeper overnight, with temperatures falling to single digits in Quakertown and Doylestown, and subzero windchills in Philadelphia.
The hazards - frostbite, water main breaks, and dead car batteries - are likely to continue for another day.
"The bitterly cold air mass will continue for the first part of Saturday before the air mass begins to moderate," according to the National Weather Service.
With Code Blue declared since Tuesday evening, the city asks citizens seeing a homeless person on the streets to call the Outreach Hotline at 215-232-1984.
Philadelphia hit its overnight low of 13 at 6 a.m., and had a windchill of minus-2 at 7 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
A high of 18 is expected today, with an overnight low of 6 in the city.
In outlying areas, temperatures could approach zero tonight.
Temperatures in the region aren't likely to be back in the 30s until Sunday.
This morning, crews were working on several water main breaks.
Lower Merion had two, at Lancaster Avenue and Church Road, and at Spring Avenue and Levering Street, according to traffic.com. Others were hampering drivers in Prospect Park in Delaware County at 10th and Lincoln Streets, and in Upper Moreland Township in Montgomery County on Davisville Road between York and Moreland Roads.
Yet another occurred overnight at 33d and Chestnut, according to 6ABC.com.
Dead batteries are an even more common occurrence in frigid weather.
"At zero degrees, a car's battery loses about 60 percent of its strength, yet the engine needs about twice as much power to start," according to a AAA news release.
Signs of a weak battery include the engine turning over slowly, clicking noises when turning the ignition key, dim inside lights, and warning lights.
Adults and children are also advised to stay off of ponds, lakes and creeks that appear to be frozen over.
Yesterday afternoon, some children played ice hockey at the edge of a pond near Audubon Lake in Camden County, even though ice had yet to form on the middle of the pond.
The children seemed to have avoided any problems, however.
