Arctic Blast Warning: Beverly To Open Warming Centers Amid Deep Freeze

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly will open three warming centers in the city with temperatures forecast to fall below zero with wind chills up to -30 degrees Friday night into Saturday.

Beverly will open the Senior Center as a warming center on Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the police station in the community room from 5 p.m. Friday through 5 p.m. Saturday, and at the library from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.

Any resident who is having trouble staying warm is invited to go to one of those locations.

Beverly officials asked residents to check on neighbors who may be in need of help and to keep their heat set at least at 60 degrees through Saturday to help prevent frozen pipes. Those with space heaters should keep them at least three feet away from flammable items and not leave them unattended.

(Read on Patch: Deep Freeze Alert: Protect Your Pets During This Week's Arctic Blast)

The National Weather Service said Friday will start off bitterly cold with temperatures in the mid-teens or lower across most of the state. At 10 a.m., rare wind chill warnings will go into effect across the entire state with winds pushing temperatures down to -30 between Worcester and Boston — ditto for the South Shore and Cape Cod.

The worst of the arctic air will hit areas like Fitchburg and North Adams with wind chills at -40 possible.

High wind gusts could reach 50 mph in Provincetown and Gloucester. Gusts will only be slightly weaker from Boston to all points west at between 35 and 45 mph, according to forecasts.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)