FRIDAY EVENING UPDATE (12/23/22)
Evening temperatures are falling below freezing quickly after sunset. Overnight readings will bottom out in the mid to upper teens around and north of the state line, and low to mid 20s for the coastal counties and the southeastern Big Bend.
The wind chill factor — or the "feels-like" temperature — will plummet to the 5° to 10° range in southern Georgia, and about 10° to 18° in northern Florida. Winds will continue around 10-15 mph overnight, enhancing the chill of the air.
Christmas Eve daytime temps will rebound, but peak just in the mid 30s to near 40°.
Christmas night will feature falling temperatures, reaching the 20s by 8 p.m. in most areas. Christmas morning will be similarly cold to Saturday morning, but with less wind. Lows will be around 20° and the feels-like wind chill factor will be just a few degrees lower.
Christmas afternoon will be mostly sunny with highs reaching the 40s, still about 20° lower than average.
Cloud cover all Christmas weekend will be limited, with a few high clouds passing through occasionally.
FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE
We are just 2 days away from Christmas morning, but cold air has arrived ahead of holiday plans.
Keep in mind if you are driving to north Georgia or Alabama, you may run into some slick roadways.
At home, roads stay dry, but we have wind gusts up to 40-45 MPH mixing with temperatures in the 20s and 30s Friday.
A Wind Chill Advisory is still in place through Christmas Eve. This is the 'feels like' temperature and we will feel more like 0-degrees to 10-degrees at times. Yikes! A good sign to bundle up to keep the wind off of you.
With lows dropping to the teens Christmas Eve morning and Christmas Day morning, you will want to keep you pets inside and pipes protected.
A Hard Freeze Warning is in effect Friday at 6 PM through Christmas morning. The criteria of being 28-degrees or less for more than 2 hours will be easily met.
Tips on how to keep your pipes warm is shown in the video lower in this article. The last thing you want is family and friends over and dealing with a pipe burst, or worse, being away while water floods your home.
So to sum it up:
FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Wind and cold air Friday with Wind Chill Advisories in place.
FRIDAY EVENING: Wind continues but lows drop to the teens with Hard Freeze Warnings in place.
CHRISMTAS EVE MORNING: Wind starts to calm, but temperatures only climb to the upper 30s.
CHRISTMAS: Little to no wind BUT starting in the teens, climbing to the 40s, and dropping back to the teens...
Stay safe and warm and make sure your family members and pets are warm, too.
As always, be sure to follow the ABC 27 First to Know Weather Team on Facebook and Twitter for updated information on the prospects of deep cold air for the region as Christmastime nears.
Be sure to download the Storm Shield App to get watches and warnings delivered straight to your phone to stay updated on your forecast through the week. Get the app today: iPhone/iPad | Android.
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THURSDAY EVENING UPDATE (12/22/2022)
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Anticipating Saturday morning temperatures in the teens and 20s area-wide, the National Weather Service will put a Hard Freeze Warning in effect for most local counties around the Florida/Georgia state line starting at 6 p.m. Friday.
A Wind Chill Advisory has been issued for all of our area Friday morning through Saturday afternoon.
Wind chill is the 'feels-like' temperature when exposed skin is met with the cold air and wind.
Wind chill values are looking to drop as early as Friday morning, so as you head out Friday to do your last minute shopping or have family coming into town, remind them and yourself to grab the heavier coats, hats, and even gloves!
Wind Chill values will drop as low as the teens in most of our area during this windy, cold time. Feels-like values between 5° and 10° are possible in the Flint River region of southwestern Georgia.
Wind calms down Saturday evening through Sunday, but lows will still drop below the hard freeze level Christmas morning.
Make sure to keep yourself, family, pets, plants, and pipes safe during this cold snap!
Here is a video on how you can keep your pipes safe:
As always, be sure to follow the ABC 27 First to Know Weather Team on Facebook and Twitter for updated information on the prospects of deep cold air for the region as Christmastime nears.
Be sure to download the Storm Shield App to get watches and warnings delivered straight to your phone to stay updated on your forecast through the week. Get the app today: iPhone/iPad | Android.
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Most of the Southeastern U.S. — including the Big Bend and southern Georgia — will experience a bitterly cold setup that will promote widespread freezing temperatures for the Christmas weekend.
A large Arctic air source is plunging from the northern Plains into the Tennessee Valley, arriving in local areas early Friday morning. The system bringing the frigid air will cause chances for showers around the state line, with better chances for light frozen precipitation in parts of the northern half of Georgia and the mountains of the Carolinas into Christmas Eve. The deepest moisture with the system is forecast to outrun the coldest air, so chances for frozen-form precipitation in the state line area is essentially zero.
Local temperatures will fall from the upper 50s Friday morning to the 30s in the afternoon, and will reach freezing likely in the mid-evening. The temperatures plunge can occur in as little as four to six hours after the front passes.
As northwest winds reach upwards of 15 mph and gusts around 25 mph, wind chill values (the "feels-like" temperature) will be as low as the single digits in southwestern Georgia Friday morning after the front moves through. Teens and 20s for feels-like temps will be common around the state line region for Friday afternoon.
Christmas Eve morning will be the coldest morning in the outbreak, with readings in the upper teens and lower 20s. Upper teens are more likely Saturday morning in southern Georgia and outlying rural state-line communities. Hard-freeze conditions are possible when temperatures fall to 23° or below, and a hard freeze watch will be in effect Friday evening because of this expectation. Record lows for Christmas weekend in Tallahassee are in the mid teens, and are not likely to be broken based on current forecast information, but beach and coastal locations will also experience a few hours of sub-freezing temperatures. Saturday afternoon highs will struggle to top 40°. Another hard freeze in the lower 20s is forecast for Christmas morning.
As always, be sure to follow the ABC 27 First to Know Weather Team on Facebook and Twitter for updated information on the prospects of deep cold air for the region as Christmastime nears.
Be sure to download the Storm Shield App to get watches and warnings delivered straight to your phone to stay updated on your forecast through the week. Get the app today: iPhone/iPad | Android.
