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Quick Cold Weather Tips

Hopefully you enjoyed those 40s and near 50 temps of Yesterday… because their time in the Valley is over! With the impending arrival of truly frigid, Arctic (literally, it came from Siberia!) air, I thought I’d take a look today at simple, useful tips to counter the cold as we start to approach wind-chill values in the single digits and lower. Some of them may seem obvious, but there is a real utility in being reminded of some of the more subtle facts we may take for granted. Let’s break it down.

First and foremost, people.

In times like this, what I like to remind people is to think of those less able than those of us fortunate enough to be mobile. Perhaps a family member does not have the ability to easily augment their temperatures at home, or perhaps they’re immobilized in such a way to prevent it – if you can do anything at all to help these friends and relatives out, you’re doing your part! Of course, we’re going to ALL want to bundle up with some heavy layers in conditions like this to keep our body-heat as close to us as possible.

Second of all, pets.

If we’re cold, they’re cold, as the saying goes. Be sure those home pets are inside, and that livestock has food, and access to water that won’t freeze up too much in the coming days.

Thirdly, your own home prep.

We all drip our pipes, but wrapping them helps conserve heat somewhat like when we dress for Winter. I know some folks who put a space heater in their kitchen too, but if you do decide to use one of these, it’s important to keep in mind you should always shoot for plugging those into the wall directly, which is the safer option as opposed to running all that power through a power strip.

Lastly, our cars and trucks.

You’ll want to check the coolant in these conditions (ironic, I know), as well as ensuring your battery is running up to par, and of course as I’m sure we’re all acquainted with, those tire pressures (which I’m sure we’ve all seen show up as “low” when we get big cold snaps!). A winter kit is useful too – one of the things I always keep in my car, for example, is an ice scraper for my windshields, because if we get rain and then freeze, that stuff can frost over in a hurry.

With this weather setting up how it is, the National Weather Service has gone ahead and issued a COLD WEATHER ADVISORY which will expire mid-day Monday in advance of these single-digit to near-negative wind chill values across the area. We’ll keep you updated as to the situation regarding that Tuesday system, which may yield flurry activity in North Alabama, and see how the trends go as far as the Northern Extent of it.

In a sentence, it can probably best be said that this season has definitely reminded us that Winter is more than a 6 letter word… so let’s stay warm, folks!

author avatar
Chase Wilson
Meteorologist & Radar Expert at Tennessee Valley Weather