An arctic air mass pushed into the central Gulf Coast Thursday, sending wind chills into the teens and single digits and prompting Mobile officials to open an extended-hours cold weather shelter for anyone with nowhere warm to go.
The James Seals Community Center, 540 Texas Street, opened at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22 and remained around the clock until 6 a.m. Monday, Dec. 26 — covering the coldest stretch of what forecasters warned would be the region’s most dangerous cold snap in years. A wind chill advisory was in effect through Saturday morning.
Meals were provided at the center throughout the shelter’s operation, and organizers began accepting donations of snacks and water at the Seals Center starting Friday to keep supplies stocked.
City officials said the effort was supported by the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency, the Mobile County Health Department, the American Red Cross and Feeding the Gulf Coast — a coalition mobilized because even brief sub-freezing weather can be life-threatening on the Gulf Coast, where homes are rarely built for single-digit wind chills and many residents lack adequate heat.
Emergency managers urged residents to check on elderly neighbors, bring pets indoors, protect exposed pipes and dial 311 for information on shelter space during the freeze.