Skip to main content

Dangerously Cold Saturday Night to Tuesday Morning

SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING IS A WEATHER AUTHORITY ALERT DAY


An expansive and dangerously cold airmass will settle in across the Mid-South for the next couple of days. At times, winds will also be breezy, combining for wind chill values below zero.
The National Weather Service in Paducah and Memphis have issued a WIND CHILL ADVISORY that goes into effect Saturday evening at 6PM and runs through Tuesday morning. This includes the entire Local 6 area. This arctic air outbreak will bring the possibility of near record lows headed into the New Year and start to next week. Average low temperatures are typically at 26 degrees compared to the single digits expected the next several days. Making the cold weather even more dangerous, daytime highs will not reach above freezing until after the New Year. 

The dangerously cold temperatures with lower wind chills will combine to make frostbite and hypothermia more likely. Wearing layers of clothing, covering extremities, and limiting time outdoors is the best way to protect yourself. This will be very important to remember as kids return to school next week. Warming shelters (listed here) should be considered if an efficient source of heat is not available. If using an alternative heat source, be sure to appropriately vent the source.Take precautions today to ensure the best heat retention for your home. This includes insulating exposed pipes to prevent bursting, sealing off unused rooms, sealing cracks (with a towel or blanket), and unhook any hoses from faucets outside.
Click to enlarge
Pets and livestock will be especially vulnerable to the prolonged cold. Many animals die due to dehydration. Providing extra bedding, unfrozen water, and extra protein will go a long way in helping them retain warmth. Domesticated animals should be allowed alternative shelter than being exposed to the outdoors.

For additional resources use the following link to access the Weather Ready Nation page provided by the National Weather Service. CLICK HERE. WPSD Local 6 is proud to be an Weather Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Planting Zones Heading North

As our global climate changes, so does our planting zones, helping us determine which flowers/shrubs/trees are hardy in specific areas. The Local 6 area has always been split by 2-3 growing zones so placement becomes very important to those in the agricultural community. The image below represents the average over the past 30 years. Climate Central published the following information:  "What kinds of flowers, shrubs and trees you’ll find at your local nursery depends on your climate — how warm it tends to get in summer, and how cold in winter. A plant that’s happy in Wisconsin might be miserable in Alabama, and vice versa. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has formalized these differences into " hardiness zones " — strips of similar climate that run more or less east-to-west (except in the high mountains), where particular plants should do especially well. But as the planet warms under its thickening blanket of greenhouse gases, those zones are shifting northward. Th...
46 comments
Read more

Updates on Upcoming Winter Weather Events

Sunday Morning Update: A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for much of the WPSD Local 6 area with a handful of counties just reaching Winter Storm criteria. Here is the latest map. They are in effect until early Monday. Snowfall totals have not changed much from last nights posting and I really feel this will still just be a road impact for Monday morning. Here is the projected snowfall total map: Sorry, TN. Looks like another near miss on the snow for you. :( Saturday Night Update: A Winter Storm Watch has been issued by the Paducah National Weather Service for most of the WPSD Local 6 area. Portions of NW TN and MO Bootheel have been placed under a Winter Weather Advisory all for winters weather on Sunday as colder air begins to arrive.   Rain will switch over to freezing rain, sleet, and snow during the day on Sunday eventually leading to accumulations in the watch/advisory areas. Initially any frozen precip will melt thanks to Saturday's mild temps and warmer pavement surfac...
4 comments
Read more

Longer Allergy Seasons

The National Phenology Network is showing the early arrival of leaves on trees in the Ohio Valley, the Midwest, and Western United States this year. This trend has become more of a norm over the past past 50 years.   Climate Central published data this week showing the same trend since 1970 with notable attention to the West where states are seeing as many as 17 more frost-free days, extending the growing season. Here in the Local 6 area, the growth is not as notable but still averaging between 4-9 days additional to the growing season. Why does this matter? Aside from having an influence on which plants are suitable for planting zones, it has a much higher societal impact by extending the allergy season.  "As the climate warms from the increase of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the last spring freeze is trending earlier and the first fall freeze is coming later. This means the growing season is getting longer, and so is the pollen season— whether it i...
4 comments
Read more