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Severe weather shelters opened in Southern Oregon in response to frigid temperatures

Snow falling on the Southern Oregon University campus.
April Ehrlich
/
JPR
Snow falling on the Southern Oregon University campus.

Towns along the I-5 corridor have opened severe weather shelters in response to snow and temperatures dropping into the teens this week.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory until 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Communities in Douglas, Josephine and Jackson Counties could see several inches of snow. Temperatures are forecast to be below freezing through Friday, at the lowest dropping to 14 degrees on Tuesday night.

The City of Medford and the nonprofit ACCESS have opened an overnight shelter that will serve individuals who need to get in from the cold on Monday and Tuesday nights. It will operate from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. and is located at 685 Market St. in Medford.

Ashland has also opened an emergency inclement weather shelter and warming center. The overnight shelter will operate from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. through Wednesday night. The shelter is located at Pioneer Hall at 73 Winburn Way in Ashland.

Further north, Roseburg will also open a warming shelter Monday through Thursday nights. The Roseburg shelter is located at 406 Winchester Ave. Overnight shelter is also being offered at the Roseburg Rescue Mission at 752 S.E. Pine. St.

There were approximately 727 people experiencing homelessness in Jackson County in 2020, according to the county’s annual point-in-time count.

The current cold snap comes after weeks of above average temperatures and below average precipitation in Southern Oregon.

Erik Neumann is JPR's news director. He earned a master's degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and joined JPR as a reporter in 2019 after working at NPR member station KUER in Salt Lake City.