How low did we go? Weekend deep freeze shatters records in Worcester

WORCESTER — Two weather records were broken this weekend when temperatures dropped below minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit late Friday, and minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit early Saturday.

The previous records for coldest temperatures on Feb. 3 and 4 — minus 7 in 1931 and minus 4 in 1934, respectively — had gone unbroken for decades. That is, until this weekend’s arctic blast.

But for National Weather Service Meteorologist Rob Megnia in Norton, the new records were not all that surprising or impressive. Worcester has had colder days in recent years, such as Valentine’s Day in 2016, when temperatures dropped to minus 16 degrees.

“These Arctic outbreaks happen probably every five to 10 years, and then just depending on what date and the wintertime falls on, you're probably going to get a daily record,” Megnia said. “The fact that it broke a daily record doesn't surprise me at all.”

Worcester still has a ways to go before it breaks its all-time record of minus 24 degrees set in 1943. And with temperatures slowly rising after Saturday morning’s lows, that record is going to stand for the time being.

Temps moderate Sunday

Megnia said he doesn’t see any cold spells in the immediate horizon.

“It’s actually going to be pretty mild this week,” Megnia said. “Highs are going, kind of, to struggle to fall out of the 40s.”

However, Megnia reminds people there's still three more weeks of February and there is still time for another frigid stretch, if not more snowfall.

Meanwhile, as far as Worcester’s winter goes temperature-wise, the region is nowhere near average, Megnia said.

“Worcester had its warmest January on record last month,” he said. “It’s been well above normal temperature-wise, as a result, well below normal for snowfall.”

By Sunday afternoon, temperatures were expected to rebound quickly, hitting close to 50 degrees.

“It's going to be a pretty rapid swing,” Megnia said.

Residents displaced

But some residents in the city are still dealing with the fallout from the extreme temperatures reached this weekend.

The 12 residents living at 57 Richmond Ave. in Worcester were displaced from the rooming house after a downed tree caused damage to the exterior of the home, requiring evacuation, Acting Deputy Chief Adam Roche confirmed Saturday.

Roche said there were no injuries, but that power was shut off by National Grid to the structure after a building inspector came and determined it underwent “significant structural damage.”

It is unknown where the residents were taken after being evacuated, but they are being provided help by the building’s owner and Worcester American Red Cross, he said.

The organization could not be immediately reached for comment.

Late Friday night, fewer than 10,000 power outages were reported statewide and just over 5,000 in Central Massachusetts.

By Saturday afternoon, there were 6,531 power outages statewide, and 2,263 in the region, with most of the outages being reported in southern Worcester County. By Sunday morning, there were zero reported outages in Worcester County.

Frozen, burst pipes plentiful

But other weather-related incidents have kept local businesses in the area, said Jonathan Nozzolillo, owner of Professional First Line Answer Service in Worcester, a customer service call center that answers calls for other companies when they are too busy or need assistance.

Typically, the company receives calls for a wide array of services, but most calls Friday and Saturday were related to things like burst or frozen pipes, heating issues or cars having issues starting because of the frozen temperatures.

“Everybody's calling about frozen pipes…exterior wall pipes, the heat working upstairs but not downstairs…people calling that their cars are breaking down or their engines have ended up blowing in the cold weather,” Nozzolillo said.

The company, which works with hundreds of businesses in Worcester County and the MetroWest area, received nearly 1,500 calls between Friday night and Saturday morning for weather-related issues.

The city set up a warming center at the Worcester Senior Center at 128 Providence St. for residents looking for shelter from the frigid temperatures.

The city's emergency management department said 35 residents showed up to the warming center on Friday, with all 35 staying overnight. A "few more" arrived Saturday morning.

“We believe the warming center came together wonderfully," said Director of Emergency Management Charles Goodwin. "In fact, it was spectacular how the community and city came together to help those in need, with about 400 people reaching out to us to volunteer their time to assist us in running it."

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He said the biggest highlight of opening up the warming center was having it "open to all" seeing people who arrived for different reason, such as experiencing homelessness or not having a family or friend to stay with, take advantage of what was offered.

"It became a safe, peaceful place for those to stay, warm up, share a meal, and ride out this cold snap," Goodwin said.

The center, which opened Friday morning, will remain open until 6 p.m. Saturday, where residents can find an indoor space to protect them from the cold, hot meals, nonemergency medical services, and entertainment like books and games to help them while they wait out the cold.

For some residents in the region, the cold temperatures presented an opportunity to hit the slopes and get in some skiing or snowboarding.

But that was eventually cut short for skiers at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, which closed early because of the temperatures. Ski Ward in Shrewsbury closed Friday and Saturday because of the frigid temperatures.

While there are no plans to close early today, a customer service representative at Wachusett Mountain said that could change depending on the temperature.

While the new records were not surprising to Megnia, one thing that did grab his attention, he said, was the temperatures and wind speeds reached at the peak of Mount Washington Friday night.

Temperatures reached minus 108 degrees at Mount Washington’s peak, with wind gusts reaching nearly 100 mph, and likely breaking the lowest wind chill ever recorded in the United States since meteorologists began calculating wind chills, USA Today reported.

“Mount Washington is no stranger to that type of weather either, but it only comes around every so often and it's impressive when it does,” Megnia said.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette reporter Craig S. Semon contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Weekend Arctic blast shatters records in Worcester