A person treks up College Street toward Western Kentucky University on Monday, after a weekend winter storm swept across the southeastern United States and brought snow, ice and freezing rain to the region. JACK DOBBS / The Daily News

Southcentral Kentucky will be dealing with the fallout from Winter Storm Fern for the next several days, as subfreezing temperatures will basically set the snow and ice that blanketed the area over the past weekend in place.

Based on collected reports, 3.5 inches of snow was measured in Bowling Green as a result of the storm, according to the National Weather Service, and ice accumulations of up to 0.8 inches were measured in portions of the region.

An extreme cold warning from the NWS went into effect Monday night and continued into Tuesday morning, with Kentucky Mesonet showing the temperature at its station in Warren County dipping down to -0.6 degrees Monday night and Butler County experiencing air temperatures of -2.3 degrees.

Tuesday represented the closest thing to a reprieve from the blustery wintry weather, with high temperatures forecast to get near the freezing point before a cold front was to have moved through the area in the afternoon, returning low temperatures to the single digits.

“The UV rays from the sun will assist with road crews and that should really improve conditions on the primary routes, but our wind chill values are going to stay extremely cold and we’ll be watching for the possibility of scattered light snow showers in the Thursday-Friday time frame,” meteorologist Landon Hampton of WXorNotBG said of the forecast going forward from what he termed Tuesday’s “quote-unquote high point.”

The forecast for Bowling Green is not expected to rise above the freezing point this week, with low temperatures expected to plunge into single digits for the next several days.

An extended forecast from NWS has temperatures plummeting below zero on Friday night and threatening to do so again on Saturday night.

While as many as 2,500 outages affecting Warren RECC customers were reported this past Sunday, power was fully restored by Monday morning and Warren RECC workers have been aiding restoration efforts this week for Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation, which has members in Allen, Barren, Warren and several other Kentucky and Tennessee counties.

Allen and Barren counties appear to have been the hardest hit in the region in terms of loss of power.

As of Tuesday morning, 3,731 customers in Allen County were still experiencing power outages, down from 7,536 on Monday, according to poweroutage.us.

In Barren County, 2,593 customers remained without power Tuesday, a decrease from 3,218 on Monday.

In a video update on its Facebook page, Tri-County Electric CEO Glenn Hale said Monday that power restoration will be happening in phases and that outages may last longer than expected due to the extent of damage.

“This storm of historic proportions has caused widespread damage across our system,” Hale said. “This damage includes downed power lines, broken poles and tree damage from ice accumulation. Icy roads and hazardous conditions are slowing access for our crews to begin repairs.”

The Allen County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday on its Facebook page that the business office would be closed Tuesday, and noted that certain roads in the county were impassable, urging people to stay home.

Wes Watt, spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Transportation District 3, said road crews were helped by the sunlight Monday in their efforts to clear the roads in the area, but continued cold weather will present challenges throughout the week.

Watt noted that any road with water on it would have refreezed overnight Monday, and he anticipated icy conditions to persist throughout the week.

“Our crews, along with contract crews and other state agencies, have also had to put a lot of work in on clearing trees, debris and tree limbs in each county across the district and that’s been very time-consuming,” Watt said. “Allen County, Barren County and Monroe County in particular were hit really hard with downed trees and power outages. It’s been very challenging for everyone in thise communities along with our personnel, but we continue to work to clear those trees so we can get the roads cleared and the power turned back on.”

Schools, businesses and government offices were largely closed Tuesday as travel remained dangerous.

In Bowling Green, warming centers are available from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday at Wellness Connection, 428 Center St. and registration at Room in the Inn for overnight shelter is at 5 p.m. nightly at the Life Nav Center, 423 W. Main Avenue directly across from the Salvation Army.

For conditions of extreme cold, the NWS urges people to take precautions that include dressing in layers, adjusting your travel to weather conditions, making frequent checks on older and vulnerable friends, family and neighbors and ensuring portable heaters are used correctly, with generators to be used outdoors only and kept at least 20 feet away from doors, windows and garages to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.