On Monday at 4:37 a.m. the National Weather Service issued a hard freeze warning valid from Tuesday 9 p.m. until Wednesday 9 a.m. for Washington, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Escambia, Covington, Mobile and Baldwin counties.

The weather service comments, “Sub-freezing temperatures between 12 and 20 degrees expected across the region.”

“Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” says the weather service. “Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. To prevent freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes they should be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those that have in-ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above-ground pipes to protect them from freezing.”

What to do if there is a hard freeze watch or warning

Hard freeze warnings are issued from May to October (but can be extended if necessary). A hard freeze warning is issued when temperatures are expected to be 28 degrees or less. If there is a potential for temperatures to fall into these thresholds, a hard freeze watch may be issued a few days ahead of time.

According to the weather service, if a hard freeze warning or watch is issued for your area, there is little you can do to protect plants. If you can move your sensitive plants inside, do so because the freeze will kill them.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.