LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Several inches of snow fell overnight across most of the Louisville area, but the main concern for many officials is the cold.

Metro Public Works crews continue traveling the city, treating the roads to give people a chance to travel safely over the Christmas weekend but the message from Public Works remains: if you don't have to be out on the roads, stay home.

John Gordon with the National Weather Service out of Louisville said the city saw a 54-degree change from Thursday's high to Friday morning's low.

IMAGES | Snow, sub-zero temperatures hit downtown Louisville

"We were dropping 30 degrees in two hours," he said. "That's the artic blast, the polar vortex, the artic express. ... whatever you want to call it."

The low temperature on Friday of -5 degrees is the second-coldest since 1997 in Louisville. The low wind chill of -31 is the second-coldest wind chill in the history of December in Louisville.

Crews started plowing around 1:30 a.m. Friday and plan to continue working on the roads as long as necessary, according to Metro Public Works Director Vanessa Burns.

"Temperatures will not warm above freezing until Tuesday," Gordon said. "So we're in this for a while."

Between 7 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday, Louisville Metro Police officers responded to eight injury-accidents and 70 non-injury accidents, something Mayor Greg Fischer said encouraged city leaders, considering the harsh conditions.

"The number of accidents we had was relatively low," Burns said. "If it continues to stay cold ... the conditions will not get better."

And as of noon Friday, city leaders had responded to 41 people needing help due to exposure to the cold.

To see which roads have been plowed and salted in Louisville, click here.

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