Bitterly Cold Weather in the Forecast For Wednesday and Thursday

There’s probably no need to rush out and stock up on bread and milk but forecasters are calling for some frigid temperatures over the next 48 hours or so.

According to meteorologist Neil Dixon with the National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg, Northeast Georgia and the Upstate will see temperatures gradually fall throughout the day Wednesday.

“We expect Northeast Georgia to see below freezing temperatures tonight,” he said. “The cold front will approach on Wednesday. We will start to see the arrival of  some very cold air during the afternoon hours. So we will see an early high in the low 40’s but temperatures will begin drop by evening, which is when the really cold weather arrives.”

Dixon said the coldest temperatures will arrive tomorrow night when our area will see lows dipping into the teens.

“Wednesday night, Thursday morning the low will be about 16 degrees and will be quite breezy. So, there will likely be issues with wind chills. And then on Thursday, highs will not even pass the freezing mark which will set up for another freezing night. It’s not until Friday when things begin to thaw out and we’ll get into the lower 40’s,” Dixon said.

Normal temperatures for this time of year in our area are where we are expected to be today – in the low to mid 50’s.

Now Dixon said no snow or wintery precipitation is expected with this cold front, but he said you should still take precautions to make sure you and your home are prepared.

“There may be a 48-hour period where temperatures remain below freezing and we will have bitterly cold wind chills by Thursday morning,” Dixon explained. “That’s going to be hard people and pets and plants, and pipes. So anything you can do to prepare for anything that will be sensitive to cold weather, today would be the perfect day to do that because it’s going to be in the mid-50’s.”

Some of the things you can do to prepare you home include wrapping pipes in foam insulation, covering outside water spigots with a thermal cover which are available at most hardware stores.

Also let your faucets drip overnight to prevent pipes from freezing and open your cupboard doors under your sinks to let the warm air circulate around the pipes.

And bring in your pets or make sure they have a warm place for the night, such as a dog house up off the ground with plenty of warm bedding inside and a cover over the door to keep out the cold wind and help them retain body heat.