Hard freeze to threaten southern US into Sunday
In the wake of the rare snowstorm, a hard freeze will threaten the southern United States as cold air settles in this weekend.
A much larger swath of the South will be at risk of a freeze this weekend when compared to the cold snaps that triggered patchy frost across the region in November.
“The coldest air of the season will move into the South through the weekend," AccuWeather Meteorolgoist Ryan Adamson said.
Houston and Lake Charles, Louisiana, recorded the first freeze of the season on Friday night. Mobile, Alabama, recorded its first freeze on Saturday night.
“Many areas along the immediate Gulf Coast will be near freezing, while low temperatures farther inland fall into the upper 20s,” Adamson said.
Some areas will come within a few degrees of record low levels.
“Residents will need to take precautions to protect tender vegetation from the cold mornings,” Adamson said.
Bringing potted plants indoors or covering up garden beds with a tarp are ways to protect vegetation from the damaging cold.
While the southern two-thirds of the Florida Peninsula, where a large portion of the citrus crop is grown, will be spared from a freeze, temperatures can drop low enough away from the coast in central Florida for patchy frost to form.
Despite some sunshine through Sunday, afternoon temperatures will be held 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit below normal across the Deep South.
Even Orlando and Miami will get in on the cooler weather, as Friday's temperatures in the 80s will be replaced with respective highs in the 50s and 60s by Sunday.
Adamson anticipates seasonable conditions to return at the start of the new week, but the next push of cold air will be right on its heels, likely arriving by midweek.
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