On Sunday at 4:50 a.m. the National Weather Service issued a freeze watch valid for Tuesday between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m. for Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Jefferson, Shelby, Sumter, Greene, Hale, Perry, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Chambers, Marengo, Dallas, Autauga, Lowndes, Elmore, Montgomery, Macon, Bullock, Lee, Russell, Pike and Barbour counties.

The weather service adds, “Sub-freezing temperatures of 30 to 32 degrees.”

“Frost and freeze conditions could damage crops and other sensitive vegetation,” explains the weather service. “Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.”

What to do if there is a freeze watch or warning

Freeze warnings are issued from May to October (but can be extended if necessary), when low temperatures are expected to be 29-32 degrees. If there is a potential for temperatures to fall into these thresholds, a freeze watch may be issued a few days ahead of time.

According to the weather service, if a 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 likely kill them, depending on the severity of conditions.

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.