White Christmas in question but, baby, it’ll be cold outside

HUNTSVILLE — While we still may have to dream of a white Christmas, it will be bitterly cold for the holiday weekend.

The National Weather Service’s Huntsville office said an Arctic air mass is expected to move into the Tennessee Valley for the Christmas holiday weekend bringing temperatures approaching zero degrees.

“Morning low temperatures in the single digits and teens will occur during the Christmas holiday weekend, with wind chill values potentially in the 0 degree to 10-below range,” the office said in a statement. “There is a chance (20-40%) for light snow Thursday night into Friday morning, though confidence in accumulation and impacts remains low at this time.”

However, patchy black ice will be possible overnight Thursday into Friday, the office said. Winds from the front could also be strong enough to create sporadic power outages and tree damage.

Frozen and, possibly, broken pipes could occur in homes and businesses.

“Because we are expected to be below freezing for a few days, be sure to take steps to prevent your pipes from freezing, or worse – bursting, due to the cold temperatures,” said Huntsville Utilities spokesman Joe Gehrdes. “A good practice is to leave a pencil-tip thin stream of water running from a faucet inside (the) house, particularly overnight and preferably from the fixture farthest from where the water service enters” a home or business.

Here are tips from Huntsville Utilities on protecting pipes, keeping warm and saving money:

• Open your curtains on the south side of your house during the day. Be sure to close them again at night.
• Clear plastic can be applied as a temporary measure on the window interior to seal against air infiltration. Window seals kits using a hair dryer to shrink the plastic until clear are available in most building supply stores.
• Set you thermostat as low as it is comfortable. If you feel cold, put on extra clothes; use extra blankets when sleeping.
• Make sure your heating system filter is clean.
• Set your ceiling fans to spin clockwise and at a lower speed to circulate the warm air.
• Disconnect hoses from outdoor spigots to prevent freezing and bursting. Inside the house, wrap pipe insulation on any copper or exposed PVC pipe under sinks, in the attic and crawl spaces.