At What Tempurature Will School in St Louis Close
St. Louis schools cancel classes with dangerously cold temperatures expected Wednesday
UPDATED at 8:45 a.m. with Amtrak canceling some train service due to cold.
St. Louisans often poke fun at how quickly the weather can go from very hot to very cold. But the arctic air blasting the area is no joke.
Frostbite and hypothermia became very real concerns as a "polar vortex" hit much of the Midwest on Tuesday night, pushing temperatures to dangerously low levels.
Forecasters predicted highs in the single digits Wednesday and wind chills as low as minus 30 degrees around St. Louis and as low as minus 40 degrees over parts of northeast Missouri and west-central Illinois. The low Wednesday night is predicted to be around zero.
The wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes, the National Weather Service said. Officials put a wind chill warning into effect Tuesday night through 3 p.m. Wednesday and advised St. Louisans to limit their time outdoors.
If the forecast holds, it will be one of the coldest for the date in the St. Louis area in modern history, meteorologist Lewis Kanofsky said from the local NWS office in Weldon Spring. A predicted high of 8 degrees would set a new record for the lowest high for Jan. 30.
As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, the air temperature was about -3 degrees, and with the wind factored in it felt like -21. A wind chill warning is in effect until 3 p.m. Wednesday. Forecasters say a light snow might be falling by rush hour Wednesday evening, amounting to an inch or less of snow, especially just south of the St. Louis metro area.
The National Weather Service warns that, since the snow will move into the metro area during the evening commute with cold temperatures already in place, roads could be snow-covered quickly. Snow will taper off by midnight Wednesday, forecasters say.
The cold will curtail Amtrak operations. Some scheduled trains Wednesday between Chicago and St. Louis, Carbondale, Milwaukee and Detroit have been canceled.
Forecasters in the National Weather Service's office in Weldon Spring say snow should be arriving to the St. Louis metro area by the evening commute on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019.
In anticipation of the morning deep freeze, school districts from the Metro East to Columbia and Kansas City canceled classes Wednesday, as well as all after-school activities and athletic events. A list of St. Louis area school closings can be found here.
And local nonprofit groups, volunteers and city agencies hit the streets Tuesday to help the vulnerable find shelter and survive the life-threatening cold, even using city buses as warming stations.
The Missouri Botanical Garden will open its doors for free Wednesday for people escaping from the cold in its Climatron, where the temperature is 85 degrees.
The cold prompted Chick-fil-A to cancel planned campouts and giveaways at two new locations in St. Louis County opening Thursday. The Atlanta-based chain usually invites the first 100 customers at a new location to wait in line up to 24 hours before the doors open to be eligible to win free Chick-fil-A for a year.
The unusually frigid weather is attributed to a sudden warming far above the North Pole. A blast of warm air from misplaced Moroccan heat last month made the normally super chilly air temperatures above the North Pole rapidly increase. That split the polar vortex into pieces, which then started to wander, said Judah Cohen, a winter storm expert for Atmospheric Environmental Research.
One of those polar vortex pieces is responsible for the subzero temperatures across the Midwest this week.
But the polar vortex should leave St. Louis by the end of this week. Forecasters expect the below-freezing temperatures to rise to the upper 40s by Friday and upper 50s by Saturday.
Ameren said fewer than 1 percent of its customers experienced power outages. Because the weather was so cold, some of the mechanics of the system may freeze up temporarily, but crews were dispatched to fix the problems.
Warming centers, shelters
Information on warming centers in the bi-state area can be found here and here.
In the city of St. Louis, when the temperature falls below 20 degrees — or below 25 degrees if there is precipitation — emergency shelters open their doors. A coalition of local church groups, city departments, nonprofit organizations and volunteers shuttle homeless St. Louisans to those shelters.
For information on that, call United Way's 211 or 911.
City officials also placed additional cots at emergency shelters Tuesday night in anticipation of the dangerous cold, according to Mayor Lyda Krewson's office.
The city set up a shuttle service at Market and 13th streets Tuesday evening to take people to emergency shelters. A St. Louis Metro bus was stationed there to give people relief from the cold as they waited for shuttles.
For information on how to join volunteer groups and city agencies helping the homeless, call United Way's 211 or 911.
On Wednesday, CareSTL Health, a health center in St. Louis, will give out free blankets and coffee starting at 8 a.m.
St. Louis County officials and volunteers were also out helping refer people who are homeless to a number of shelters throughout the area. Yusef Scoggin, director of homeless services, said people seeking immediate shelter from the cold can also head to an emergency warming center at 10740 Page Avenue.
Forecasters expect lows around 25 degrees Thursday morning, as volunteers in both the city and the county prepare to count the number of people who are homeless.
The effort is part of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's Point-in-Time Homeless Count, which requires that organizations receiving HUD assistance to combat homelessness participate in a nationwide count to identify the number of homeless people on one of the last 10 nights in January. The count helps determine how much federal funding and resources the organizations receive to help the homeless.
Volunteers will conduct the count from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Thursday. Anyone interested in volunteering for the count should call organizer Linda Huntspon at 314-615-4413.
St. Louis Winter Outreach, a volunteer group, is searching for more volunteers. Anyone interested can get more information on the group's Facebook page.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Winter Patrol encourages homeless to check into shelters to escape cold
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
"Winter Patrol, any one out here," says Rev. Mark Glenn, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach, who canvasses a vacant lot looking for homeless seeking shelter from the cold on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
Larry Buckley heats a sandwich brought to him by Pastor Mark Glenn with New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Buckley declined Glenn's offer to check into a shelter for the night choosing to stay in the vacant warehouse. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
Rev. Mark Glenn, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach,(left) and volunteer Chris Ohnimus bring food, water and fire wood to a couple of homeless men living in a vacant warehouse on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Glenn was encouraging the men to check into shelter for the night to escape the brutal cold. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
"Winter Patrol, any one out here," says Rev. Mark Glenn, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach, who looks for people needing shelter from the cold along with volunteer Chris Ohnimus (left) on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
"You need gloves, take mine," said Rev. Mark Glenn, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach, who outfits Joseph with his gloves on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Joseph was walking to the Biddle House for the night when he mentioned he needed a pair of gloves. Glenn was out with a team of volunteers looking for people who needed shelter from the brutal cold. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
Rev. Mark Glenn, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach, (left) and volunteer Chris Ohnimus bring food, water and fire wood to a couple of homeless men living in a vacant warehouse on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Glenn was encouraging the men to check into shelter for the night to escape the brutal cold. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
Larry Buckley (left) thanks Rev. Mark Glenn, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach, for bringing him food, water and firewood on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Buckley declined Glenn's offer to check into a shelter for the night choosing to stay in the vacant warehouse. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
Ron Underwood (left) watches his friend Larry Buckley warm a sandwich for dinner in a vacant warehouse on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Rev. Mark Glenn, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach, brought the men food, water and firewood, encouraging them to check into a shelter for the night to escape the brutal cold. They both declined his offer. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Winter Patrol checks in on homeless in the cold
Rev. Mark Glenn, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Center's homeless outreach, prays with with volunteer Chris Ohnimus, and homeless men Ron Underwood and Larry Buckley in a vacant warehouse on on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in St. Louis. Glenn and Ohnimus brought food, water and firewood to the men, encouraging them to check into a shelter for the night to escape the brutal temperatures. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
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At What Tempurature Will School in St Louis Close
Source: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-schools-cancel-classes-with-dangerously-cold-temperatures-expected-wednesday/article_f3d0fbc7-0644-557b-8d15-ea7da8cf10f1.html#:~:text=In%20the%20city%20of%20St,emergency%20shelters%20open%20their%20doors.
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