The City of Little Rock is opening warming centers in response to a significant drop in temperatures this week. Meteorologist Tabitha Clarke with the National Weather Service says prolonged low temperatures can be dangerous.
“Any exposed skin, within a matter of minutes, you could get frostbite. We are looking at temperatures in the teens and 20s," Clarke said.
The low early Tuesday morning is forecast to dip into the mid-20s in central Arkansas. After warming into the 40s later in the day and into the 50s on Wednesday, another round of very cold air is expected on Thursday and Friday.
"We’re not going to get that much warmer above freezing for several days,” Clarke said.
Shawanda Robinson, deputy director with the Little Rock Parks & Recreation department, said warming centers opened to the public Monday. They are in separate rooms in five city-run community centers.
“It’s just a space where it has tables and chairs for them to lounge around,” Robinson said. “They will have to have a mask when they come in because we are still under a pandemic and masks have to be worn in all of our city facilities.”
The warming centers will be open from 8 a.m.– 5 p.m. through Friday. Robinson said the city monitors the forecast daily and will reopen the warming centers if the temperatures become dangerously cold again.
The Little Rock warming centers are located at:
- Dunbar Community Center – 1001 West 16th Street
- Southwest Community Center – 6401 Baseline Road
- Stephens Community Center – 3720 West 18th Street
- West Central Community Center – 8616 Colonel Glenn Road
- East Little Rock Community Center – 2500 East 6th Street
The National Weather Service forecasts temperatures getting warmer next weekend, with a high in the upper 50s by Sunday.
