Trails of smoke from house chimneys teased the cloudless skyline Thursday morning as Donna Rohrbaugh, Pottsville, put on two coats, one on top of the other. It was 8:05 a.m., and it was 2 degrees.
"I'm not a fan of the cold or the wind. Last week, it was brutal," Rohrbaugh, 51, a crossing guard for the City of Pottsville, said.
Her knuckles were dried and cracked.
"They're chapped. Sometimes I forget to put my gloves on. And if you forget them for just one day, they can get chapped," she said.
Her breath froze as it hit the air as she took hold of a cardboard stop sign with a plastic handle and went to work.
For six years she's worked part-time at the bus stop at 18th Street and West End Avenue. She greets 13 Pottsville Area students at the bus stop on the southwest corner weekdays from 8:15 to 8:45 a.m. and from 3:50 to 4:15 p.m.
"I think last Friday was the worst day, the coldest day this winter that I can recall. I was outside about a minute and a half and it felt like my face was frozen," Rohrbaugh said, referring to Jan. 24.
However, it wasn't the coldest January on record in central Pennsylvania.
"It was the 11th (coldest)," Greg DeVoir, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, State College, said Saturday.
The weather service's records go back to the 1880s and, according to statistics gathered in Harrisburg, the coldest January on record was in 1919, when the average temperature was 19.1 degrees, Mike Dangelo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, State College, said Friday.
The average temperature from Jan. 1 to Jan. 31 was 23.2 degrees, DeVoir said.
Between Jan. 22 through Jan. 25, the highs in Schuylkill County were in the low teens and the lows were in the single digits below zero, Craig Evanego, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, State College, said Thursday.
While temperatures were above freezing Friday, colder temperatures may return next week.
"By the later part of next week, we might have another shot of cold air if we're affected by a low pressure system which is coming up the Ohio Valley right now. It could bring some wintery precipitation to Schuylkill County Tuesday or Wednesday," Evanego said Thursday.
Rohrbaugh said her husband, Shaun, helps her brave the cold mornings.
"After the alarm goes off at 7, my honey spoils me in the morning with hot tea," she said.
Mackenzie Landon, 9, a fourth-grade student, arrived at the bus stop about 8:10 a.m. Thursday. She said she doesn't like waking up early and coming out to the bus stop in the cold.
"What's rough about standing out at the intersection is you get hit with the breezes," Landon's mother, Ashley, said.
"You get the winds from all directions," Rohrbaugh said.
At 8:14 a.m. Thursday, Rohrbaugh stood in the middle of the intersection to help Nicholas Giuffre, 9, a third-grader, and his sister, Alexa, 5, a kindergartner, cross.
"Good morning, Nick. Where's your coat?" Rohrbaugh said.
He had it tucked under his arm. When he reached the bus stop, he put it on.
"It's funny. They'll walk out the door and they won't have their coat on or the coat will come unzipped. And they'll get to here and I'll say 'Good morning. Put your coat on' or 'Put your hat on,' " Rohrbaugh said.
She said she and her husband don't have children, just pets - "Two dogs and a guinea pig."
Rohrbaugh said she loves being a crossing guard because she enjoys the people she meets.
"The kids are amazing, and I love the friendship you find here," she said.
According to the National Weather Service, today will be mostly cloudy with a high near 39. Tonight there will be a 30 percent chance of rain and snow.
Monday, there will be a 30 percent chance of rain, with a high near 42.
Looking ahead, there's a 60 percent chance of rain Tuesday, according to weather.gov
"It could be rain or snow. That's a bit up in the air," Evanego said.
When she returned to the intersection at 3:50 p.m. Thursday, it was 25 degrees.
"It's not bad," Rohrbaugh said. "If you stand in the sun, it gets better."
As soon as the bus came by at 4:10 p.m., the children stepped off and rushed home.
"When they get off the bus, they scatter. So you really have to watch the traffic. And some drivers don't pay attention to anything," Rohrbaugh said.