Drier, but colder, today in Chattanooga area

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Paul Davis delivers Coca-Cola products to UTC buildings Monday on Eighth Street.

Vance Templeton was determined that neither cold wind nor rain would keep him from cleaning the downtown Chattanooga CARTA bus stop shelters Monday.

He worried that someone would slip and fall if the slick leaves remained near the benches.

He got it done, but it wasn't easy. And no sooner did Templeton load his leaf blower onto his trailer than a whirlwind swirled the leaves into the air and back around the bus stops.

"I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle," he said.

Templeton was among many Chattanooga workers and residents enduring the morning rain and midafternoon winds Monday. About 0.6 inch of rain fell, while the high temperature hit 63 degrees, records show.

Not much rain but even colder temperatures are expected today, said Paul Barys, WRCB-TV Channel 3 chief meteorologist. Winds will pick up from the north, dropping today's high temperature to about 55, he said, and with the wind it's going to feel like 40 degrees. But at least it will be sunny, he said.

The first hard freeze of the season could come tonight, with the low expected to drop to 33, Barys said. Temperatures on Wednesday will rise into the mid-50s, he said.

It really doesn't heat up that much for the rest of the week, said Jessica Winton, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn.

By Thursday, temperatures are expected to come back into the 60s, and high temperatures will continue around 60 into the weekend.

It may be just a bit colder than normal, but it's still pretty close to average, Barys said.

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at 423-757-6431 or yputman@timesfreepress.com.