Temperature records shattered like crystal under a soprano's "high C" this morning as the mercury plunged to new lows.

The National Weather Service logged the temperature at minus 7 in Lehighton this morning, minus 14 in Stroudsburg, and minus 7 in Allentown.Times News reader Amy Baddick Herring reported minus 17 in Albrightsville, Brett Heckman reported minus 9 in Lehighton, and Lisa Stroup said her thermometer read minus 9 in Palmerton.Facebook users who follow amateur Tamaqua weatherman Ryan Fannock recorded minus 8 in Tamaqua, minus 13 in Blakeslee, and minus 15 in Bear Creek.By contrast, it was 29 degrees in Bismarck, North Dakota, and a balmy 37 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska.Sure, winters are cold in northeastern Pennsylvania. But not this cold at this time of year, says AccuWeather meteorologist Tom Kines."Mount Pocono broke their record with minus 15. The record was minus 14 in 1914," he says. "Allentown destroyed their record when it got down to minus 8. The record was 4 degrees in 1948."It's going to stay cold most of this week. We're way below normal," he says."The good thing is that we don't have any big storms to worry about. In that respect, we'll luck out. We're also not going to have the bitter winds we had in past cold snaps, and that makes it a little more tolerable."So, what's normal for this time of year?"A lot higher than what we've been seeing," Kines says. "Normally, we'd have around 40 degrees for a high during the day, with nighttime lows in the 20s. Obviously, we've fallen way short of that."Given that norm, what's going on with the weather?"It all boils down to where our weather's been coming from," Kines says. "The jet stream, which is about 15,000 feet up, guides our weather systems. Lately it's been coming from the polar regions down to the eastern part of the country. That's what we've been experiencing over the past several weeks."But stay strong, because it won't last forever."It looks like the weather pattern is going to change next week, so this bitter cold will ease up. We'll see temperatures much closer to where they should be at this time of year," Kines says. "That doesn't necessarily mean it won't snow. March can be a cruel month. It can get quite mild, but we can also have wintry weather."The bitter cold prompted the Salvation Army in Tamaqua to invite people in to stay warm."Anybody who wants to come and just sit and get warm is welcome," says Major Sharon Whispell.Over the past few weeks, people have come in to sit and sip hot coffee, tea or cocoa and warm up, she says.In emergencies, a person can stay overnight. If there's enough money in the coffers, the Salvation Army can pay for a hotel room for one night.The center, on Broad Street, is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.As the temperatures plummet, local plumbers are keeping busy thawing frozen pipes."We've never had this many people with frozen pipes. Ever," says Lisa Hiles of Hiles Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Fuel of Summit Hill."We've been instructing people on how to safely thaw pipes," she says.Hiles suggests using space heaters or hair dryers to warm the air around the pipes."But not too close," she cautions. "And stay away from things you don't know how to use, like heat guns and blow torches."Hiles advises people to keep faucets at a fast drip or thin stream in this sub-zero weather."Not only the cold water but also the hot water, which tends to freeze first," she says.She also advises people to let the sun help warm their homes."Open up the blinds and let the sun in. When sun goes down, close the blinds," she says.Also, open cabinet doors underneath the sinks in the bathroom and kitchen so warm air can circulate around the pipes.And resist the temptation to lower the thermostat to save money on fuel.Turning up the heat a few degrees can save a lot of of money on plumbing bills, she says.