The temperature dropped and the winds picked up Wednesday, sending holiday shoppers to the stores not for gifts, but for warmer clothing.

"Well it has gotten so cold I came to get my daughter some warm ups and long sleeve shirts," said Susie Ortega from West El Paso.

"But I am bundling her up because she is like me, she is always cold," said Hillary Chapa, also from West El Paso.

And others may have to bundle up tonight, because the heat has yet to be turned on.

Charles Lopez Jr. called Tuesday to have his heat fired up. He was told the demand for experts to service furnaces is so high, it would have to wait until Friday, after the freeze.

"They called about an hour and a half ago and asked if they could squeeze in this afternoon and I said sure because you know I wanted to get them in before it really got too cold," said Lopez.

With gas furnaces like Lopez's, it is recommended to call a professional to turn it on, especially because carbon monoxide, which is difficult to detect and could be deadly, may leak into your house when you first turn up the thermostat.

"You can't smell it, or see it, or taste it. It takes some equipment, it's pretty expensive equipment, to check for all that stuff," said Hector Gutierrez with Gray Air Conditioning.

The Lopez family said they are going to be very happy that they are going to have heat Wednesday night considering the extreme temperatures.

"I'm very happy, we were going to bundle up tonight with blankets and everything, because it usually gets pretty cold in the evenings," said Lopez.

Especially considering Gray Air Conditioning said if you called on Wednesday, someone probably won't make it out to your furnace until Monday.