MOULTRIE — Tuesday’s high hit 60.1 degrees, according to the weather station at Spence Field, but watch out: Last night’s temperatures, which were expected to bottom out at about freezing, will lead into a frigid day today.

Today’s high is expected to be only 38, according to www.weather.com, and the low is forecast to be 24.

That’s almost a duplicate of the coldest day so far this year, Jan. 2, when the weather station at Spence Field recorded a high of 37.6 and a low of 23.2.

Weather.com also forecasts morning rain, followed by a wintry mix of rain, sleet and/or snow today.

Greater Newton Grove Cathedral will open its facility at 905 W. Central Ave. — the former Billy Jack’s Hardware — to provide shelter for the homeless or others with inadequate heat, its pastor said on Tuesday.

The church typically opens the shelter whenever temperatures dip below 30 degrees, the Rev. Cornelius Ponder III said. Most times it opens at 7 p.m. and closes about 9 the next morning, but when it turns really cold it stays open all day.

Ponder said he’ll open the shelter about noon today and expects it to be open until sometime Thursday morning.

He said Greater Newton Grove has been opening the shelter as needed for almost eight years. It’s had up to 15 people staying there at a time.

Food is provided by church members, he said, and others in the community have donated toiletries.

“We’ve been blessed over the years,” Ponder said. “Black and white come together. We do what we have to do.”

Ponder said the church has bought a house on West Central Avenue that it plans to convert to a 90-day program for the homeless. It’s looking for a grant now to cover the cost of the renovation. If all goes as planned it will house a dozen people in single-occupant rooms as they get their feet on the ground again.

Schools and businesses

As of Tuesday evening, the Colquitt County School System said it planned to be open on Wednesday, although other schools in the general area have announced plans to close.

No closures of any kind have been reported in Colquitt County, neither to The Observer nor to our news partners, WALB-TV.

In Mitchell County, Pelham City Schools, Westwood School, the Mitchell County School System, Baconton Community Charter School and the Mitchell County Head Start Center will be closed, as well as Keystone’s Further Processing and Fresh Processing plants, will be closed, according to WALB.

In Tift County, Chess Academy and Tiftarea Academy will close, as will the Worth County Schools and the Head Start Center in Worth County, WALB reported.

Otherwise, the reported school and business closings are located north and west of Colquitt County. See walb.com for a complete list.

Utilities

Moultrie Utilities Director Elvira Gibson said electrical outages are unlikely. The main danger of that comes from ice build-up on trees that can fall on power lines. While that may be possible, it is not expected with this storm.

Of greater concern are frozen water pipes. Gibson recommends leaving water dripping because moving water tends not to freeze. She said there’s nothing wrong with wrapping pipes, but she’s seen more success with leaving a faucet dripping.

“Or even dribbling,” she added, noting tonight’s expected low of 24 degrees.

The more exposed a water pipe is, the greater the danger of it freezing, she said.

In the case of a utility outage — either electrical, water or sewage — city customers should call (229) 668-6000.