At 1:05 a.m. Tuesday, a Freeze Warning was issued by the National Weather Service effective for Wednesday between midnight and 8 a.m. for Coffee, Dale and Henry counties.

The weather service comments: “Severe frost with temperatures as low as 24 degrees expected.”

“Freezing and freezing conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” the weather service says. “Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. To prevent freezing and possible bursting of exterior water pipes, they should be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those with sprinkler systems buried must drain them and cover the pipes above to protect them from freezing.

Freeze monitoring or warning – that’s what it means

Frost warnings are issued from May to October (but can be extended if necessary), when low temperatures are expected to be between 29 and 32 degrees. If there is a risk of temperatures falling below these thresholds, a frost watch may be issued a few days in advance.

According to the weather service, if a frost warning or watch is issued for your area, there is little you can do to protect the plants. If you can move your sensitive plants indoors, do so because freezing temperatures will likely kill them, depending on the severity of the conditions.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.