As expected, the trough of low pressure that has been giving the West Coast snow and frigid temperatures has shifted to the east over the last few days. This means that cold air is likely to bring frost and freezes to many locations in the Southeast over the next several days. The coldest mornings will be Wednesday March 15 and Thursday March 16, but northern areas could also see temperatures below freezing on Monday night into Tuesday morning the 14th, and the National Weather Service has already posted frost/freeze warnings for the counties that are likely to be affected on Tuesday morning.

Farmers are watching these cold temperatures with concern due to the advanced state of fruit trees and other crops this year following a month of above-normal temperatures that brought out leaves and blossoms almost a month early in many parts of the Southeast. The digital forecasts for low temperatures for the Mid-Atlantic are shown below, but you can move to other areas like Alabama using their forecast tool at https://graphical.weather.gov/sectors/midatlantic.php#tabs.

Unfortunately, this does not look like the end of the cold conditions, since another outbreak is expected in the same areas this weekend March 19-20. There is still plenty of cold air to the north, so we could see more cold weather by the end of March or even into April. Areas that are in southern Alabama and Georgia and coastal areas of South Carolina as well as all of Florida so far look like they will escape the freeze this week, but producers in those areas should watch developing forecasts carefully as conditions could change for the worse as new information and computer model runs come in.

If you need specific hourly forecast for your location to get temperature, wind, and dew point temperatures on an hourly basis over the next six days, you can find instructions at https://site.extension.uga.edu/climate/2018/03/where-to-get-hourly-weather-forecast-information/. Keep in mind that the forecasts are for temperatures at thermometer height (around 6 feet) so temperatures near the ground could be colder. You can find information on frost protection for fruits and vegetables at https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1479&title=commercial-freeze-protection-for-fruits-and-vegetables.

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