Once again, it’s warmer in Alaska than it is in Atlanta. And it’s going to be the weekend before it gets warmer, or at least out of the 30s.

The arctic blast that has pushed a burst of colder than normal weather through north Georgia will linger through the end of the week, forecasters said. Friday’s low will dip again to the teens, according to meteorologist David Chandley with Channel 2 Action News. The good news is that it will be dry.

“We’ll have plenty of sun again on Thursday, but we’ll struggle to get out of the 30s,” Chandley said.

Temperatures will dip again Thursday night before a Friday morning low of 15, Chandley said. Wind chills will make it feel even colder, he said.

Atlanta’s official low early Wednesday of 16 degrees was 18 degrees below normal but 6 degrees above the record low for the date of 10, set in 1961. By comparison, the temperature early Wednesday in Fairbanks, Alaska, was 29, and the temperature in Anchorage? A “toasty” 34.

Clifford Irving, who has been a skycap at Atlanta’s airport for 30 years, was prepared for Wednesday’s chill.

“You just dress warm, extra clothing,” the native of Jamaica told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

He said the coldest part was “my hands. Everything else is covered.”

Irving was even prepared for that, with hand-warmers handy to keep his fingers toasty.

“As long as my hands are warm, I’m good,” he said.

The colder temperatures led to increased numbers of people at the city’s shelters, which weren’t at capacity, but still saw a spike in residents.

At the Jefferson Place shelter for men, 150 beds and 75 overflow cots are ready to help keep the homeless off the streets during the bitter cold, Mia Redd, the shelter’s quality assurance manager said Wednesday afternoon.

During the cold blast about three weeks ago, Redd said overnight residents numbered almost 200. So far, that hasn’t been the case with this round of cold weather. But shelter leaders are ready for the increase in residents at both Jefferson Place and Springdale Place, for women and children, she said.

“We won’t turn them away,” Redd said. “We will make room for everyone here.”

Anyone in downtown Atlanta in need of emergency shelter should call 404-613-0412.

By the weekend, warmer temperatures are expected, Chandley said. Saturday should warm to the upper 40s and Sunday should hit 50 degrees by the afternoon, he said.

— Staff photographer John Spink and staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this article.