It looks like Old Man Winter is going to take one more shot at Georgia over the next few days, and that could be bad news for gardeners and farmers across the state for a second year in a row. The Weather Service is calling for low temperatures in Lawrenceville of 36 degrees on Sunday night and Tuesday night, and 34 degrees Monday night. Across the state, lows are expected to be in the upper 30s Monday morning, and 31 in Atlanta, 32 in Athens, and 30 in Macon on Tuesday morning.

Accuweather.com is calling for lows of 34 on Sunday night, 30 Monday night and 39 Tuesday Night, while Weather.com says it will be 36 Sunday night, 31 on Monday and 33 on Tuesday.  In comparison, temperatures dropped to 28 degrees the nights of April 6 and 7, 2007, the infamous Easter Freeze that caused widespread damage to spring flowers and crops.

My guess is that the damage won’t be as bad as what we saw last year– it looks like it will be a little warmer– but I wouldn’t suggest you plant any annuals this weekend.  You should also bring in any houseplants or container plants you’ve set outside until at least Wednesday. If the worst does happen, Walter Reeves has a good article on coping with freeze damage.

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The predicted change in the weather pattern at the end of this week may turn into some of the coldest weather of the season. Most forecasts for periods more than a day or two out are based on computer models, and one such model, the Global Forecast System, or GFS, was predicting highs in the 20s next Saturday or Sunday. The National Weather Service forecaster commenting on this possibility urged readers to remember that it was likely to change.

The map to the right represents the predicted low temperatures in the eastern half of the country for the period between January 16th and January 22nd. As you can see, the low during that period could be around 15 degrees, a temperature even colder than the frigid blast we had just before Christmas.

All the cold weather will be caused by polar air pushing southward starting around the middle of the week. We’ll begin to see the effects of that on Thursday, as some of the rain plaguing the Ohio valley moves into North Georgia. As the rain moves through, the temperatures drop, leading to highs Saturday only in the mid 40s. Longer-range, we might see some wintry precipitation the week of the 17th.

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