The coldest night of the winter — by a long shot — is in the forecast for many spots in Alabama, and hard freeze warnings will be in effect overnight.

The National Weather Service is forecast low temperatures to fall to near or even below zero for parts of north Alabama.

Central Alabama could bottom out in the single digits to teens, and lows in the teens will be possible all the way into south Alabama.

According to data from the weather service, the “warm spot” in Alabama overnight could be Dothan, which is forecast to have a low of “only” 22 degrees overnight (the forecast for Gulf Shores is 19 degrees, by the way).

Hard freeze warnings will be in effect for the entire state overnight.

There will also be wind chill warnings in effect for part of north Alabama and wind chill advisories for the rest of the state. Wind chills could range from 5 to 10 degrees below zero in north Alabama to around zero in central and south Alabama, according to the weather service.

Will there be any records broken? Here are the existing low-temperature records for Jan. 17:

Birmingham: 0 degrees in 1982 (average low is 35)

Dothan: 17 degrees in 1977 (average low is 40 degrees)

Gadsden: -3 degrees in 1982 (average low is 32 degrees)

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Huntsville: -4 degrees in 1982 (average low 33 degrees)

Mobile: 15 degrees in 1977 (average low 40 degrees)

Montgomery: 12 degrees in 1977 (average low is 36 degrees)

Muscle Shoals: -3 in 1982 (average low 33 degrees)

Troy: 10 degrees in 1977 (average low is 37 degrees)

Tuscaloosa: 5 degrees in 1982 (average low is 35 degrees)

Highs on Wednesday may not climb above freezing in north Alabama, but the rest of the state could break the 32-degree mark. Here are Wednesday’s forecast highs:

Temperatures will briefly climb back out of the cellar on Thursday, but another arctic blast will arrive on Thursday night into Friday, and lows in the teens will again be possible across the state.

Here are the low temperatures from Friday into Saturday:

The good news is that a pattern change will be possible starting next week, with temperatures returning to average — or possibly even above average — starting on Monday and lasting through the end of January.