Update: A freeze warning has been issued for southeast Alabama for Saturday

The National Weather Service issued an updated freeze warning at 2:06 a.m. Friday, effective for Coffee, Dale, Henry, Geneva and Houston counties between midnight and 8 a.m. Saturday.

The weather service states: “Minimum temperatures of up to 30 degrees are expected.”

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

Stopwatch or warning – that’s what it means

Frost warnings are issued from May to October (but can be extended if necessary) when minimum temperatures of 29 to 32 degrees are expected. If there is a chance that temperatures could fall below these limits, a frost warning may be issued a few days in advance.

If a freeze warning or warning is issued for your area, there is little you can do to protect plants, according to the weather service. If you can move your sensitive plants inside, do so as the frost will likely kill them, depending on the severity of the conditions.

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