Last week’s freezing cold snap caused one school systemwide closing (which meant a digital learning day for students) followed by a two-hour delay the next day, but no big issues for local utilities or emergency management agencies.
Although temperatures dipped into the single digits and teens, the lack of rainfall deterred the expected arrival of a wintry mix of snow and ice.
According to the University of Georgia’s weather monitoring service, the lowest temperatures last week were 6 degrees on Jan. 17 and 8 degrees on Jan. 20. Lows in the teens were also common throughout the week, with the highest temperature measured at just 48 degrees.
Gary McVey, Ellijay- Gilmer County Water and Sewerage Authority director, said the water authority has been really fortunate with the small amount of problems and minor issues caused by the cold so far this month.
“I think we had two frozen water meters that we’re aware of and one minor freezing issue with some controls at one of our water tanks (last week),” McVey said. “We had a handful of customers who had frozen pipes of their own, but nothing catastrophic like December 2022. We are usually OK with the up-and-down fluctuations like we’ve recently experienced. It’s those times when temperatures drop below freezing for multiple days that seem to cause us headaches.”
With no significant precipitation, the cold snap also did not spur an increase in calls for Gilmer Fire and Rescue or the Gilmer Sheriff’s Office, confirmed Deputy Fire Chief Jason Bryant and Capt. Frank Copeland.
“We had no cold weather related calls, and I’m not aware of any road closures or any cold weather issues,” said Copeland.
The Gilmer Warming Center, which operates inside the county civic center when temperatures are expected to drop to 32 or below, was open for several 24-hour stretches through the week.
Sandy Webb, who manages the warming center overseen by local outreach nonprofit New Beginnings for Gilmer County, said it’s open 24 hours when the high isn’t forecasted to be above 32 degrees all day. Other times, it opens at 5 p.m. when it’s expected to be 32 or under through the night.
“Even though we haven’t had the snow and ice this time, we’ve still had the low temperatures,” said Webb. “We always look at the number of hours it’s going to be under 32 degrees because it’s not always 32 by 5 o’clock.”
Webb said the warming center, where one can get a meal and sleep the night, is not just for the homeless. It’s for anyone needing warmth when the temperatures drop. In the past week, anywhere from two to five people arrived at the center each time it opened.
“People are becoming more aware of it, and some of the doctors are also more aware of it now. We’ve had doctors refer people to us. I’m glad to see people are paying attention,” Webb said.