Big chill continues across county

Another frosty morning dawned on Sonoma County Tuesday with a reported low of 22 degrees in Santa Rosa.

But temperatures were expected to gradually warm through the weekend, according the National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson.

By Saturday, the low in Santa Rosa could be a relatively balmy 37 degrees, he said, with highs reaching into the 60s.

Still, freeze warnings remained in effect for Wednesday and possibly Thursday mornings. He predicted lows would be between 30 and 32 degrees both days with temperatures climbing into the mid-50s during the afternoon.

The slightly warmer temperatures come on the heels of a week of frigid, near record-breaking weather. Anderson said no record-breaking lows are in the forecast.

Last weekend, chilly temperatures mixed with rain to create black ice that led to several crashes, the CHP said.

But on Tuesday morning black ice was not a factor in any accidents on the highways, according to the CHP.

The cold weather has also damaged pipes and sprinkler systems around the county. Firefighters countywide Monday and Tuesday responded to dozens of fire alarm calls, the vast majority of which turned out to be water leaks and broken water lines or sprinklers, said Santa Rosa Battalion Chief Jack Piccinini.

Santa Rosa firefighters had more than a dozen such calls during the day Monday and a half dozen before noon on Tuesday, all of them related to the freeze, he said.

A fire alarm call typically leads to a dispatch of 2-5 fire engines, just in case there is a fire.

Piccinini said there were so many such calls Monday of alarms that didn't involve fires that he asked county fire dispatchers by mid-morning to send only one engine to each call.

The Healdsburg Fire Department also reported responding Monday and Tuesday to numerous calls about broken pipes.

Staff Writer Randi Rossman contributed reporting to this article.