The Deep South and Southeast will not escape the Arctic outbreak gripping the Midwest and Northeast, another widespread hard freeze in store for Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
While high temperatures on Wednesday rebounded to the 40s and 50s F region-wide, it was still about 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit below average in most spots.
K-9 emergency personnel work in storm damaged areas on Lee County Road 166, Monday, March 4, 2019, in Beauregard, Ala., following a powerful storm system including a tornado Sunday. Unseasonably cold conditions following the storms were hindering recovery operations. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
An area of high pressure will settle over the southern Appalachians Wednesday night, again allowing temperatures to dip to or below freezing in many spots across the South.
Although southerly winds across eastern Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley may keep temperatures higher on Thursday morning than on Wednesday morning, another hard freeze is expected across the southeastern United States.
The combination of clear skies and generally calm winds will allow temperatures to plummet in the Southeast.
Temperatures are forecast to dip into the 20s over the interior Southeast Wednesday night.
Low temperatures on Thursday morning may even be a few degrees lower in parts of northern Florida, southern Georgia and the coastal Carolinas compared to Wednesday morning.
Some of the cities set to endure subfreezing temperatures on both Wednesday and Thursday morning include Atlanta, Augusta and Macon, Georgia; Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama; Little Rock; Jackson, Mississippi; Columbia and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Temperatures in Tallahassee, Florida, are forecast to dip to around 30 F on Thursday morning, with a low of 32 F expected in Jacksonville.
Download the free AccuWeather app to find out how cold it will get in your community this week.
Not only will the frigid air force residents accustomed to much higher temperatures to bundle up and put on coats, hats and scarfs before venturing outdoors, but it will also increase heating demand and electric bills for March.
In addition, any buds, blossoms and tender vegetation subject to this kind of extreme cold may be killed or severely damaged.
Any persons that have already begun to plant gardens or are keeping flowers and other plants outdoors should be sure to put a protective covering over them or bring them indoors through Thursday morning.
The subfreezing temperatures will also threaten to damage the citrus crop in northern parts of Florida and cause both economic and agricultural losses.
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Any pets, young children and the elderly left outdoors for any length of time without proper protection from the cold could experience harmful effects on their health and develop hypothermia.
In the coldest locations across northern parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, temperatures could fall so low – into the high teens – that exposed, unprotected pipes could freeze.
By Thursday afternoon, the area of high pressure will begin to lift away to the north and east, allowing southerly winds to bring milder air back to the Southeast.
An increase in clouds and humidity on Thursday night will prevent temperatures from falling below freezing, and temperatures should return to the 60s and 70s F from north to south across the region on Friday.
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