As the sun rises Monday morning, Denver will be nearing its 65th hour of nonstop, below-freezing temperatures. National Weather Service meteorologist Maggie Ideker said the polar-vortex-fueled storm moved in across Colorado around 5 p.m. Friday, quickly dropping metro temperatures into the teens. But the below-freezing streak started two hours earlier, around 3 p.m., she said. RELATED: Everything you need to know about the polar vortex bringing extreme cold to Colorado Since then, temperatures in Denver and across the state have struggled to make it out of the single digits and, in many places, especially overnight, have plummeted below zero. “We’re currently utilizing nine facilities specifically for overflow emergency cold weather shelter,” Katie Wamsley with the Denver Department of Housing Stability said. “This is an unprecedented number and represents more sites than Denver has ever used historically.” Wamsely said Denver’s overflow shelters, which have been open for 20 days, housed well over 1,600 people on Saturday night alone. “It’s important to note that these sites are in addition to the 3,000-plus beds available throughout Denver’s shelter network that operate daily,” she said. “Though capacity is strained, no one has been turned away.” Throughout Saturday evening, as Denver temperatures hit minus 11 — which felt closer to minus 29 with wind chill, according to NWS meteorologist Robert Koopmeiners — shelter teams shuffled people around between buildings to make sure everyone had a warm, safe place to sleep, Wamsely said. Denver officials continued to make shelter adjustments on Sunday, including expanding capacity at existing shelter locations and moving people into roughly a dozen vacant rooms at other non-congregate sites across the city for temporary refuge during the cold spell, Wamsely said. One to 3 inches of fresh snow expected to hit the city overnight Sunday into Monday will partially, and ironically, shelter people from the coldest weather. “The clouds help insulate the area when it snows, so it won’t get as cold and we won’t see some of those negative temperatures,” Koopmeiners said. “It will be a light, dry snow that doesn’t hold a lot of moisture — the kind where you shut your car door and all the snow falls off the windows.” That snow is on top of a batch that already fell Friday night, dropping up to 7 1/2 inches in Denver and more than 14 inches in the foothills northwest of Boulder, Ideker said. Rosalie Ogden, 6, right, pulls her brother Elias, 8, on a sled as the two have fun in the snow in Boulder, Colorado on Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post) Ideker and Koopmeiners said the weekend’s coldest temperatures will come Monday evening into Tuesday morning. Temperatures as low as 14 degrees below zero will hit Denver during that overnight stretch, according to Ideker. With the wind chill, it could feel as cold as minus 30. The worst of the weather is coming on what is a holiday for many, but the city is still being impacted. Denver’s Botanic Gardens closed both its York Street location and Littleton-based Chatfield Farms for Saturday through Monday to protect staff, volunteers and visitors. The closures include the SCFD Free Day that was scheduled for Monday to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The city’s MLK Day Marade celebration was also cut back, with organizers pushing the start time to 10 a.m. and shortening the outdoor City Park and Civic Center programs to limit attendees’ exposure time. Organizers asked seniors, small children, pets and those with medical conditions to not attend the event for their own safety during the frigid weather. When the Marade kicks off, it will feel close to 12 degrees below zero. Denver’s trash service was also rescheduled because of the weather, city officials said. Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s Solid Waste Management Division will delay all trash pickup around the city by one day. “Denver sees these cold bursts at least once a year,” Ideker said. “It’s not uncommon to see this arctic blast, but we’re definitely in for a couple more days of uncomfortable temperatures.” Julianna Ludemann walks her dogs Milo, left, and Cocoa, right, in Boulder, Colorado on Jan. 19, 2024. Boulder. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post) In fact, this below-freezing streak doesn’t even make the top 20 list of Denver’s longest. According to NWS records, the longest recorded spell of below-freezing temperatures in Denver was two weeks in November 1880. Other notable stretches include 12 days in 1878 and 1879, and five instances of 10-day streaks across the 1880s and 1900s. Denver city and shelter officials aren’t the only ones working overtime in the cold snap — pipes in the metro area have reached a breaking point and have plumbers running wild. “Today is the day when pipes started to burst,” said Levi Torres with Denver-based High 5 Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electric. Torres said his team didn’t get many calls during the first few days of the cold, but the crew spent their Sunday running around the metro area on calls that started coming in around 9 p.m. Saturday. Between Saturday night and Sunday evening, Torres said he and his team had responded to more than 50 burst pipes across metro Denver. Normally, the company doesn’t run any calls on Sundays, Torres said, but several people volunteered to work because they knew the weather was going to be bad. Torres said the team’s schedule is already full for Monday and Tuesday with frozen lines and people were to stay out responding to calls until 10 p.m. Sunday. So far, the damage had ranged from $200 minimal fixes to a $9,000 complete repiping of a vacant home. “We’ve also had a lot of no-heat calls, which is unusual,” Torres said. “Usually at this time of year, for the HVAC, it’s about service and maintenance, so any amount of no-heat calls is abnormal.” Related Articles Weather | More than 250 flights delayed, another handful canceled at DIA as freezing weather continues in Denver Weather | Colorado weather: Colder temperatures still to come, snow returns Sunday to Denver Weather | Colorado snow totals for Jan. 19, 2025 Weather | Colorado road conditions: Freeways icy but open after overnight snow Weather | Colorado weather: Front Range feels brunt of arctic cold and snow surge High 5 HVAC technicians responded to 14 heatless homes on Sunday and were booked to respond to another 20 on Monday, Torres said. Torres said his crew also keeps 25% of their schedule empty for same-day, emergency appointments. He expects those will be snapped up quickly Monday and Tuesday morning. “There’s not much you can do if you haven’t taken the precautions by this point to prevent your house from freezing,” Torres said. “But, you might still be able to stop the pipes from bursting.” As soon as a frozen pipe is discovered, the homeowners should turn up their thermostat as high as possible to get heat circulating in the room, Torres said. He recommended turning it up to 85 degrees to start and bringing in space heaters to help. Warmer weather is headed for the city on Tuesday and temperatures are forecast to peak around 40 degrees, Ideker said. The rest of the week will feel more normal, and most daylight temperatures will stay above freezing. Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.