NO RESPITE FROM BITTER COLD UNTIL NEXT WEEK

Bitterly cold temperatures were expected to continue throughout the weekend with lows hovering at or below zero.

If it is any consolation, Dr. Al Robertson doesn't expect any record lows to be set.

"The one you may want to watch for the next few days would be the minimum high temperature," said Robertson, a climatologist at Southeast Missouri State University. "I'd like to see a new maximum-high temperature record, but I don't think that's going to happen."

Record temperatures for Feb. 3 range from a low of minus 8 in 1985 to a balmy high of 70 in 1962.

Thursday's temperatures ranged from a low of 14 to a high of 20. A total of 1.9 inches of snow fell at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

The snow closed schools throughout the area.

The low Friday morning was 6, and wind chills dipped into the minus 20s and minus 30s.

The record low for Cape Girardeau Feb. 2 is 10 below in 1951.

The National Weather Service was calling for a high of 10 to 15 degrees today, and into the teens Sunday.

Temperatures could stretch into the 20s and 30s by Monday, but the long-range forecast shows a chance of precipitation -- probably rain -- by Tuesday, with highs in the 30s and 40s.

The Mississippi River remained open for navigation Friday.

"There's a bunch of ice out there, but the river hasn't been closed down," said Lt. Mark Emmons of the U.S. Coast Guard at Paducah, Ky.

Coast Guard officials at St. Louis established a safety zone and barred traffic by single-skin barges because they were afraid the ice might penetrate the barges' hulls, Emmons said.

In Perryville, the city dropped an order that natural gas customers turn down the thermostats to save gas, said city administrator Craig Lindsley.

"I'm glad to report that it's back to normal," Lindsley said, adding the conservation order went out first to industrial and institutional customers, including those with backup heat sources like fuel oil.

"By the time we got through that list, we achieved what we needed to do," he said. "The whole idea of that was so that people wouldn't have to turn their furnaces down in their homes."

Supplies of natural gas have been threatened by freezing gas pipelines in Texas and Oklahoma.

If the cold snap has you dreaming of tropical isles, it could be worse: Record lows were set Thursday in several cities, including 60 below in Tower, Minn.

Ice and snow are keeping street maintenance crews busy this year.

Doug Leslie, Cape Girardeau's public works director, estimated snows like Thursday's cost the city from $10,000 to $12,000 for labor, supplies and equipment.

Clearing streets after Thursday's snow required in excess of 500 tons of sand, 100 tons of salt and 800 gallons of calcium chloride.

"That's fairly typical for a 1-to-3-inch snowfall," Leslie said. "Usually in an event like this, the trucks will cover in excess of 2,000 miles clearing the streets."

Sand, salt and calcium chloride supplies are "in fairly good shape," he said. "We had replenished them before this storm, and once this has passed, we'll be replenishing them again."

Leslie said the city usually schedules crews of up to eight street employees, four to five sewer and storm-water employees and "four or so" mechanics to operate and maintain snow removal equipment for use on city streets and at the airport.

"Those personnel go into shift rotations to maintain a 24-hour operation," he said.

Cold weather may have slowed crime a little, but it didn't bring it to a halt, said Cpl. Kevin Orr of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"Yeah, there are less people out, but there are still things that have been happening," Orr said. "Crime doesn't come to a standstill even when the weather's this bad."

Routine stealing and thefts continued, he said.

The cold is no easier on animals than it is on people.

Most livestock can withstand the low temperatures "unless they're having babies," said Bob Nitsch. Nitsch, who lives near Jackson, raises beef cattle. "It's tough weather on babies. It's cold enough that the tips of newborn calves' ears could freeze and break off.

"If they're born in this cold weather, they're apt to lose the tops of their ears," he said. "But it has to get pretty cold for them to lose their tails."

It's important to keep the animals sheltered, Nitsch said. "The wind chill is what's rough. If this wind would end, it wouldn't be so bad. I think we could all live a little better."

Pets also need extra attention in extreme cold, said Jhan White, director of the Southeast Missouri Area Humane Society.

"When it gets colder, invariably we get more calls about dogs that don't have the proper shelter or whatever," White said. "The same thing happens in the dead heat of summer. That kind of thing goes with the changing seasons. When the weather conditions get real severe, we get more calls."

Pet owners need to make sure their animals have adequate shelter if they're kept outside, including blankets or straw in doghouses, and plenty of fresh water.

In extreme cold weather, that could mean putting new water out every few hours because of freezing, or using a heated water dish, she said.

"Dogs can suffer frostbite and hypothermia just like people can if they're outdoors any length of time in weather like this," White said. Both conditions require a veterinarian's attention immediately.