By John Brice
Correspondent
Advisories have been issued this week by the US National Weather Service Birmingham office in an effort to warn the public regarding potential hazards faced during what has been forecast to be imminent days of extremely cold temperatures. In a January 14th post to their official facebook page directed at what is anticipated to be the worst weather expected mid-week, NWS Birmingham declared “The precipitation should end Tuesday early afternoon with cold air moving in behind it. Temperatures will drop quickly with wind chill values in the teens before midnight. Wind chill values will be in the single digits for several hours Tuesday morning, finally warming into the upper 20s by late morning.”
It went on to continue “With these dangerously low wind chill values, check on family and friends and make sure they can be in a place they can be warm. Bring pets inside. Check on large animals. Wear proper clothing. Know signs of hypothermia. Make sure any space heaters have several feet of space surrounding the heater. Don’t sit in a car with the heat running for several hours. Don’t run a generator inside. Stay safe in this cold!”
In a follow up post, the NWS Birmingham noted “After wintry precipitation exits the area Tuesday, bitter cold will settle across the area. Hard freeze conditions are expected with wind chill values in the single digits to below zero in some areas. Take action now to protect exposed water pipes and pets. Check on friends and neighbors!”
Expanding on some of those same warnings, the Chambers County Emergency Agency declared in a January 14th post on their official facebook page “Very important winter weather update affecting NW Chambers & could expand eastward. Please share! Be winter weather prepared! Remember to check on and help protect people, pets, pipes, and plants. Check local road conditions before travel Monday morning.”
This post by the CCEMA was in reference to an earlier advisory from NWS Birmingham which had analyzed the late Monday, early Tuesday forecast stating “Overnight, temperatures will drop to below freezing in areas roughly north and west of I85. A progression from rain to snow/freezing rain is expected through the night as the line of precipitation moves through the state from northwest to southeast. Wind chill values are expected to drop in the single digits for a couple of hours right before sunrise Tuesday morning. Any snow/freezing rain that falls could cause hazardous driving conditions. Know winter driving safety tips. Power outages may occur with higher ice amounts (in the Advisory and Warning areas). Remember heater safety tips. Bring pets inside and check on family and friends. Wind chill values are the ‘feels like’ temperatures. Do NOT underestimate how quickly these temperatures will become dangerous outside.”