Forecasters warn of bitter cold

By Globe Staff

Better bundle up. The arctic chill has come to Massachusetts.

The National Weather Service is warning of hazardous weather, saying that bitterly cold wind chills of zero through minus 10 will persist through the early morning.

Temperatures like that can cause frostbite if skin is exposed too long.

The coldest town in the state last night may have been the western Massachusetts town of Worthington, where it was minus 8. In Springfield, it was one below. And in Worcester, it was zero, says National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson.

In Boston, the temperature dropped to 7. Other low temperatures around the area included 4 in Bedford, 6 in Taunton, and 4 in Beverly.

Today in Boston, the temperature is expected to rise to about 14 this afternoon, but the wind chill will make it feel like it’s zero, Simpson said.

Alicia Ianiere, a spokeswoman for the Pine Street Inn homeless shelter in Boston, said that the shelter, which normally sends out a single van during the day to reach out to the homeless on the streets, will send out a second van today.

The vans' outreach workers try to get to know the homeless and encourage them to either go to a homeless shelter or stay with a family member.

"We really are conveying to them the dangers of this extreme cold," she said.

The good news is that tomorrow there will be a warmup. The high tomorrow is expected to be up around the freezing mark. From there for the next several days, temperatures will rise, reaching the relatively balmy 50s on Monday.

"Today is the worst of it," Simpson said.

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