Philly area sees dangerous cold, wind chills below zero

ByAnnie McCormick and Katie Katro WPVI logo

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Making it through the bitter cold. Katie Katro reports during Action News at Noon on January 21, 2019.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The cold temperatures are affecting the way people live, work, and drive in the Delaware Valley.

Jennifer Clinkscaoe was a Lyft driver with no work on Monday. That's because her car battery died in the chilly weather. She had to call AAA and get her car towed.

AAA Philadelphia Fleet lead driver Mike Desmarets arrived at the Wawa in Narberth to help.

"Majority of our calls today are all battery calls. They go anywhere from jumpstarting a battery from changing them completely," Desmarets said.

AAA sees the most calls for dead car batteries during frigid temperatures like these; when temperatures reach 0 or dip into the single digits, as they did Sunday night, your car battery loses 60 percent of its strength.

"Batteries usually last three to five years. The older the battery is the more it takes to start in the cold weather," Desmarets said.

AAA also says it's also important to wash your car because of all the extra salt on the road. Make sure to get the car's undercarriage clean, otherwise it could rust.

Vehicles on Kelly Drive had to dodge patches of black ice. Even ducks swimming behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art had to navigate around pieces of ice in the water.

Philadelphia remains under a Code Blue. On Sunday night, members of Project Home canvassed the street making sure the homeless knew they had the option to seek shelter.

If you see someone who is in need, call the hotline at (215) 232-1984.

The Code Blue also means pets must be brought indoors. Violators could face fines of $500.

Philly copes with frigid temperatures. Annie McCormick reports during Action News at 12:30 p.m. on January 21, 2019.

The temperatures are so severe experts say within just thirty minutes you could get frostbite.

In Center City, people headed to work prepared for the polar plunge.

"Today I got on two jackets, two coats, three shirts, two pairs of pants, and a face mask. I got to stand outside in the cold for work," Ordarian Wheeler of Germantown said.

So it's a good reminder to dress in layers, don't stay outside of a long period of time, and, yes, take a look at that car battery.

"A battery? Can you believe it? A battery can stop your day completely. So I advise anybody that's out here today get your battery checked," Clinkscaoe said.