Christmas weekend expected to be a cold one

Published 7:30 am Tuesday, December 20, 2022

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As Saint Nick’s yearly trip approaches this weekend, prepare for a cold weekend with temperatures dropping down into the teens.

Meteorologist Carmen Hernandez with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City said temperatures will be below freezing after a cold front comes through Friday morning.

“It’s going to get pretty cold with temperatures down to the 20s and 30s with 40 miles per hour gusts, which will possibly cause that wind chill to be cold,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said to expect some rain this weekend.

“The rain could switch over to a rain/snow mixture on Friday morning but as the week goes on, it should be constant,” she said.

Regarding any uncertainties in weather conditions, Hernandez said there’s uncertainty in the weekend forecast regarding precipitation.

“We have some rain on the forecast that leads to another front sitting over the Gulf Coast in Florida that’s pumping a lot of moisture into this area,” Hernandez said. “The thing with Friday is a separate cold front coming through Thursday night into Friday morning.”

Hernandez said starting on Thursday, the high will be 56 degrees and as the front pushes through, a low of approximately 32 degrees.

“Believe it or not because we’re behind the cold front, the max for Saturday is looking at around 20 to 29 degrees,” Hernandez said. “The low Saturday night into Sunday is looking around 13 to 15 degrees and Sunday a high of around 33 to 36 degrees. Sunday night into Monday is low of around 16 to 18 degrees.”

For those traveling this weekend, Hernandez said the main impact of any winter weather will occur on Friday morning.

“Whenever we have the possibility of rain/snow mixture but before that, it looks like rain will be the main impact,” Hernandez said. “By Friday evening, it looks like most of the moisture will taper off, and it will be dry.”

In preparation for the cold weather, Hernandez said to bundle up if going outside, be careful with space heaters and if traveling try to have an emergency supply kit with phone chargers, jumper cables and flashlights.