It may have been cold Thursday night, but the record books are safe.
Overnight temperatures hovered at or below zero degrees across the state, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton.
In Amherst, temperatures reached one below zero with wind chills reaching nearly 40 below, according to weather service meteorologist Lenore Correia.
It could have been worse. In 1917, the mercury in Amherst plunged to 13 below. In this week’s snap, Worcester came within one degree of breaking a 129-old-record, according to Correia.
The high for Friday was only forecast to reach the mid-teens, according to Correia, but without the additional bite of Thursday’s high winds.
“We had strong northwesterly winds so all the air from the Arctic and Canada was being pushed down onto New England,” Correia said.
The extreme cold is expected to be short lived, with a low pressure system approaching the region, bringing snow and warmer temps with it, Correia explained.
In neighboring Holyoke, schools were closed for students “due to the extreme cold weather expected,” according to the district’s website. In Hampshire County, schools remained open.
Around 12:30 p.m. Friday around six people were at the Interfaith Shelter on Center Street. Eating lunch, listening to music or sitting on the couches, they had come to escape the frigid temperatures outside.
Lee Zaragoza, 53, said she’s been without a home for 10 days. She spent Thursday night at the shelter and stayed for the day.
When it’s cold and the shelter isn’t open, Zaragoza said she spends time at the library or coffee shops. Without the shelter, she said she didn’t know what she would do.
It’s her first winter without a home, she said.
“It is what it is,” Zaragoza said.
According to the site manager Sam Cunningham, anywhere from two to 10 people use the shelter’s extended hours to escape the cold.
“A lot of different situations bring people here,” Cunningham said.
Both the Interfaith Winter Shelter and the Grove Street Inn in Northampton will remain open 24 hours a day until the cold front passes, Katie Miernecki, Servicenet’s director of Hampshire County Shelter and Housing Services, said this week.
Because of the extreme cold, and accompanying high winds, Miernecki said no one will be turned away at the emergency overnight shelter, at 43 Center St., which typically can have 20 guests a night who begin lining up at 5:30 p.m.
“We’ve gone over capacity,” Cunningham said Friday. “It’s been manageable.”
Cunningham said Friday that around 23 people stayed at the shelter the previous night.
“The building has been relatively filled. People are staying out of the cold,” she said. “Everyone has been in mostly good spirits.”
The Northampton Police department didn’t see an increase of cold weather related calls Thursday night into Friday, according to Capt. John Cartledge.
Police did respond to a report of a tree down on Loudville Road in Leeds just before 2 a.m. Cartledge said it was likely due to high winds.
“Especially in this type of bitter cold, dress in several layers,” Cartledge advised. “If you do know of a neighbor who made need assistance in general or in the colder weather — check on them. If they can’t, they can certainly call police or fire and we’ll help them out however we can.”
The emergency room at Cooley Dickinson Hospital did not see an uptick in cold weather related injuries, according to hospital spokeswoman Christina Trinchero.
For those not a fan of the cold, there is hope. According to Correia, Sunday is forecast to be in the 50s.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.