DeKalb County will operate several warming centers 24 hours a day for the next week, as temperatures are expected to fall nearly 10 degrees below normal and wintry precipitation is expected on Friday and Saturday.
"We're going to see the first very serious bout of cold weather for this winter," DeKalb County Chief Operating Officer Zach Williams said Tuesday.
"We've had shelters open as early as early November, but we are anticipating cold weather through the next week. We will be utilizing several 24-hour warming centers," he told a meeting of county commissioners.
The locations are:
- Frontline Response International, 2585 Gresham Rd., Atlanta
- Tobie Grant Recreation Center, 593 Parkdale Dr., Scottdale
- Mason Mill Recreation Center, 1340 McConnell Dr., Decatur
- Exchange Recreation Center, 2771 Columbia Dr., Decatur
"Each of those four will be open on a 24-hour basis until further notice, which will probably be about a week's time, maybe longer," Williams said.
The county will also operate an overnight warming center at the North DeKalb Senior/Community Center, 3393 Malone Dr. in Chamblee.
"It's not a 24-hour, it's overnight only," Williams said.
Fire stations are not being used as overnight warming center locations during this cold spell.
DeKalb County has posted information about the warming centers at https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/weather.
The county last operated 24-hour centers in January 2024, when overnight lows were in the teens.
