After a dangerously cold holiday weekend, Springfield may be warming back up for the New Year.
According to the National Weather Service, the area will see warmer temperatures than the mid-40s weather it normally sees this time of year. The forecast predicts highs in the mid-60s on Thursday, and the mid-50s on Friday through Saturday. Lows are predicted to stay in the high 30s.
It's quite the change from last week, when wind chill meant temperatures were around minus 30 degrees, in line with what was predicted, said Jason Schaumann, a meteorologist with Springfield NWS. The dangerous weather meant that area cold weather crisis shelters had to seek additional locations and extend the services offered.
South-central Missouri may see light rain and thunderstorms on Thursday night into Friday, but the Springfield metropolitan area won't be impacted much by it, according to Schaumann.
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However, the cold weather may yet come back with a storm system early next week. Though he can't yet say how impactful the system might be for southern Missouri and Springfield, Schaumann advised people to keep an eye on the weather forecast.
"This storm system is probably going to have everything with it: The potential for severe weather the farther south you go, and the potential for snowstorms the farther north you go," Schaumann said. "We don't know where it's going to track yet, but this is one of those storm systems you're going to want to keep up with the forecast because it looks to be impactful potentially early next week."
Additional locations meant there was 'a bed for every person who came in'
The severe cold weather kept shelters "very busy, to say the least," last week, said Lisa Landrigan, crisis cold weather shelter coordinator for Community Partnership of the Ozarks.
"(Regular locations) were open 14 nights in a row, and then the additional shelters that were open Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night to pick up those extra people that came in," Landrigan said.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday area churches provided extra space for those seeking shelter from the cold at night, while the Springfield Expo Center offered additional space for daytime shelter.
The Springfield Expo Center and the normal daytime shelter, the Veterans Coming Home Center, saw 150 people on Thursday, 175 on Friday and 191 on Saturday. Area churches and the regular shelter locations filled 332 beds on Thursday night, 357 on Friday night and 324 on Saturday night.
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"We’re very, very grateful that we had a bed for every person who came in seeking shelter," Landrigan said.
The fact that this happened right before Christmas gave it special meaning to some. During a debriefing on Monday morning, one group member was reminded of when Mary and Joseph were turned away from the inn during the story of the Nativity of Jesus, Landrigan said. However, all who sought shelter in Springfield found it.
"Many of the buildings that opened in our shelters were having church service upstairs or in the sanctuary while our unsheltered friends were in fellowship halls, seeking shelter. It really did bring that story full circle for a lot of us,” Landrigan said.
Volunteers, donations helped bolster effort
With all of the additional space and expanded services came a need for more volunteers to help run the shelters.
Community resources that help address homelessness came together, with Pastor Christie Love of the Connecting Grounds putting in a call for volunteers. Within hours of that message, Landrigan said, so many people volunteered that not everyone was needed. Landrigan hopes that later in the season, they can tap those who weren't able to volunteer last week.
"It was a great thing to have more volunteers than we actually needed in that crisis situation," Landrigan said.
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Some locations also offered shelter throughout the day and into the night, allowing people to stay somewhere safe during the day. With the expanded services, additional supplies were needed: food, snacks, coats, gloves, and more.
"So many donations poured into these places," Landrigan said. "I’d like to sincerely thank not only everyone that volunteered, but also provided some of those much-needed, lifesaving supplies while the shelters went through this.”
