Temperatures expected to dip down near 10°

By Sandy Morris

After a string of warm, windy days, local residents began this week to brace themselves for a cold front bringing bone-chilling temperatures to the area.

The National Weather Service out of San Angelo predicted a week starting out with a high near 60 degrees on Monday and spiraling downward the rest of the week.

Shackelford County residents will probably experience the lowest temps of the winter this week with expected lows of near 10 degrees by the weekend. 

The forecast predicts several days and nights of extremely cold temperatures with a string of nighttime temps in the teens and some chances of wintry precipitation in the mix. 

With the abnormally low temperatures in the forecast, residents are urged to prepare for the frigid winter blast.

Prepare Your Home

The Consumer Affairs website offers several tips to prepare homes for the cold.

To prevent water pipes from bursting, residents should leave water faucets dripping in their homes and change filters in their heating units.

Reversing the direction of ceiling fan blades to turn clockwise will circulate warm air from the ceiling down into the room.

Outside faucets should be wrapped and covered to prevent pipes from freezing and bursting.

Bring in any outside plants that are not able to withstand freezing temperatures. 

Protect Yourself

Before going outside, residents should bundle up in three to four layers of clothing. 

All skin, including ears and face, should be covered.

Avoid going outside unless absolutely necessary and limit exposure time to avoid frostbite. 

Protect Pets

According to the ASPCA website, if it’s too cold outside for people, it’s probably too cold for pets, so keep animals inside if possible. 

Pets can freeze, become lost, disoriented, injured or killed during extremely cold weather. 

Pets who must remain outside should have shelter and blankets or hay for extra warmth. 

The ASPCA also suggests keeping a towel handy to wipe off the pet’s feet and stomach when they come in from the outdoors. 

Pet owners can massage petroleum jelly into paw pads before letting pets outside to prevent any irritants, such as salt, from getting lodged between bare toes. 

Pets also may need extra food during extremely cold weather, so plan on serving up extra kibble in the food dish. 

Protect Vehicles

The National Weather Service website advises travelers to check the forecast before heading out on the road.

Drivers are advised to adjust schedules to avoid being outside during the coldest part of the day, which is typically the early morning. 

Keep all gas tanks filled up and keep an emergency kit in the vehicle with jumper cables, flashlights, a first aid kit, food, water, extra clothes and blankets, an ice scraper, and a basic toolkit.

Travelers are also advised to keep their cell phones fully charged and carry a spare charger in the car. 

While many of these tips may seem to be common sense, they are easy to forget due to the lack of experience with extremely cold temperatures.