Coping with the cold

People doing fine, cars not so well

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Guys like Scott Trebelhorn and Steve Fluegge have been extraordinarily busy recently.

The coldest temperatures of the year have brought both Trebelhorn and Fluegge, who own towing services and repair shops in New Ulm, a steady stream of vehicles in need of jumpstarts, new batteries, new tires, new starters, new antifreeze and routine maintenance that had been delayed for a little too long.

Despite the number of car problems in the area on Thursday, most schools stayed open, most of the city's water pipes remained intact, most heating stayed on and none of the hospitals in the area had any weather-related health problems to report.

Like many areas in Minnesota, cities in southwestern Minnesota reported sub-zero temperatures on Thursday, including New Ulm, Gaylord, Redwood Falls, St. Peter and Mankato. The average temperature was about 10 degrees below zero.

According to the Associated Press, the lowest temperature in Minnesota on Thursday was a 47 degrees-below-zero reading reported from Cook, a town located about 30 miles from the Canadian border. Many other cities on the Iron Range like Hibbing and Duluth reported slightly warmer temperatures, which still forced several school closings in the area.

This week's cold snap is expected to continue into this weekend, when temperatures are expected to rise above 0 degrees. The warming trend is expected to continue into late next week with temperatures reaching 19 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Trebelhorn said he is not surprise at the sudden influx of vehicles. He said a spike in the number of service calls is typical of an extremely cold snap; the only surprise was that the bitter weather came so late in January, he said.

Dispatchers for the State Patrol in the Marshall and Mankato districts said the cold snap did not cause any major problems on state roads in their areas.

No school closings were reported in the area on Thursday.

Staff at many area hospitals said they have not yet seen a case of frostbite or any other cold-weather-related condition. Brown County Public Health Director Anita Hoffmann said the best way to avoid frostbite is to stay indoors and dress properly when going outside. She said children should monitored when they play outside and should be brought in to warm up every 15-20 minutes.

Al Lamm, supervisor of the water division of the New Ulm Public Utilities Commission, said the low temperatures will probably cause breaks in city water pipes later this spring. He said extremely low temperatures help frost penetrate the ground at a faster rate than normal. The city's electrical production division said it did not see any problems on Thursday.

Judy Sellner, energy assistance coordinator for Brown County Family Services, said that while colder weather uses up heating assistance grants at a faster rate, her main concern is with homes that have older furnaces, which might be seeing more wear than normal.

University of Minnesota Extension Educator Wayne Schoper said he believes there is enough snow on the group to protect crops. Livestock generally don't have problems with subzero temperatures although farmers should expect to see higher food consumption that normal, he said. Prolonged exposure to subzero temperatures can cause respiratory problems in livestock, he said.

The NWS issued a wind chill advisory for much of southern Minnesota on Thursday, saying temperatures will fall to 20 degrees below zero after sunset, causing wind chill readings in between 25-35 degrees below zero that could lead to frostbite and hypothermia if precautions are not taken.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation also issued a warning about black ice, which forms when air temperature is warmer than the pavement and causes moisture to freeze quickly and create a thin, transparent layer of ice on roads. Black ice is commonly found on heavily congested highways, shaded areas, near lakes and rivers, in tunnels and on overpasses.