Roger Liedle keeps a pair of coveralls in his car "in case it gets really, really cold out."

But Monday, with temperatures struggling to reach zero across the Helena region as the first bitter cold snap of the season maintained its icy grip, Liedle, a driver for Tiger Express, made his delivery rounds in his typical work attire: a sweatshirt and shorts.

He gets plenty of comments as he makes his rounds -- "I did have a comment from one older gentleman, 'Good God, man,' " Liedle said -- and admitted he did make one concession to the weather: he replaced his sandals with tennis shoes. But the bare legs remain.

"It's just something I started a few years ago. I'm more comfortable in shorts," he said. "If it's a calm day like today, it doesn't bother me too bad. I'm in and out so much that I really don't feel the weather."

Liedle was clearly in the minority, though, as all around town Helenans bundled up to go about their pre-holiday business. Among those taking a more traditional approach to surviving the cold was mail carrier Sheri Toone, who wore several layers of clothing while completing her route in the South Central neighborhood Monday afternoon.

"Wear long johns, cover your face and keep moving," she said of her preferred strategy on sub-zero days.

Despite hustling to keep warm, Toone said mail delivery on cold days always seems to take longer.

"The streets are icy, the cold weather, you can only go so fast," she said.

According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Helena dipped below zero in the early morning hours Saturday, and hasn't sniffed positive digits since. After a plunge from 33 degrees at 11 p.m. Friday night, a reading of minus 3 at 4 p.m. Monday was the highest in more than 48 hours.

The sudden drop in temperatures meant lots of calls for area plumbers over the weekend and through Monday.

"Very busy. A lot of frozen pipes, both water lines and heat lines," said Marcus Burget of 3 Brothers Plumbing & Heating in Montana City. "It turned so cold so fast, it just caught people. It's mostly little maintenance issues that should have been taken care of but were overlooked."

Burget said there's up to a 24-hour wait for people who call with frozen pipes, despite the firm pulling people off other jobs to help out with the emergencies.

After a mild respite over the next two days -- a high in the single digits is predicted on Tuesday and 10 on Wednesday -- another arctic front will chill things again.

"Another system is moving in Wednesday night into Thursday, with snow and temperatures back into the single digits above zero," said Brian Waranauskas, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Great Falls.

Waranauskas said while this system will bring less snow than the last, possibly an inch or so, temperatures will plunge again, with a forecast high for Helena on Friday of minus 8.

The low temperatures didn't slow business at Bob's Valley Market, where it was business as usual, once the couple of employees whose cars wouldn't start were picked up by co-workers.

Owner Steve Bartmess said the store may even get a little extra business when the mercury falls, since people in the North Hills may forego a trip into town for the one or two items they need. Even with the door opening and closing all day, it wasn't too cold inside.

"We're cooking hams around the clock, so it stays pretty warm," Bartmess said.

While the cold is a harsh change from the mild autumn enjoyed in Helena, Waranauskas said sub-zero temperatures are to be expected.

"We're well within the normal range of conditions we would expect to see in west-central Montana for this time of year," he said.

Tips on avoiding frozen pipes

Frozen pipes are a typical problem during prolonged periods of sub-zero temperatures. The Montana State University Extension offers several tips to homeowners to keep their pipes from freezing and possibly bursting:

- Open all sink cabinet doors to expose warm air to the water supply and drains. If the washing machine is in a closet, open that door as well.

- To increase warm air flow, remove under-sink products and consider using a small fan to circulate warm air.

- Let a cold water faucet drip. Water moving slowly through the pipes will generally keep the water from freezing the supply pipes from the water main or pump.

- Make sure outside hoses are disconnected, and if possible, shut off the water supply to the outside faucet.

- Keep the home at a steady temperature, rather than setting the temperature too low to save energy -- the additional energy cost will be less than the cost to repair and clean up after a burst pipe.

- Pay special attention to unheated areas like crawl spaces and garages, and insulate pipes so cold drafts can't reach them.

- Periodically open a faucet to flush water through the pipes.

- If pipes do freeze, have an electric heater on hand to immediately thaw the blockage to prevent the entire pipe from freezing and bursting.

-- Source: MSU Extension office

Reporter John Harrington: 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com.