James Bowen braves the cold temperatures to fish at Tennessee Valley Authority's Chickamauga Dam on Monday. Bowen is studying to be a family nurse practitioner and fishes every week of the year.Weather forecast• Today: Low in the morning around 22 degrees with a high of 31 during the day. Wind chills will be in the teens in the morning.• Tonight: Low temperatures around 21 degrees.• Wednesday: Low in the morning around 21 degrees with afternoon highs in the 40s. Wind chills again in the teens during the morning.• Wednesday night: Low around 32 degrees, calmer wind.• Thursday: Low around freezing, but with highs in the upper 40s.Source: National Weather Service, Morristown, Tenn.
It's time to bundle up your family, pets, plants and pipes, because the Chattanooga area is bracing for the harshest cold snap of the season so far.
Today the high will reach only 31 degrees, with lows this morning around 20, said Derek Eisentrout, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn. Factor in wind chill and it'll feel even more frigid, with temperatures that feel like they're in the teens. Wednesday will be a little warmer, with lows still in the 20s but highs in the 40s, and Thursday will show lows around freezing and highs into the upper 40s, Eisentrout said.
North Georgia could be slightly colder, with lows in the upper teens on Lookout Mountain and in Ringgold tonight, and highs in the low 40s tomorrow. There will be strong winds in North Georgia during the day today, with gusts of up to 20 mph, adding to the cold.
From Thursday on, things will warm back up into the 50s, Eisentrout said.
But it's going to be cold enough until then that Chattanoogans may want to take precautions for their outdoor plants and household pipes.
Derrick Mattson, owner of Riverside Plumbing in Chattanooga, said homeowners need to be especially vigilant with any pipes outside, like hose spigots, as well as any pipes that run along exterior walls.
"You probably want to leave your [inside] faucets dripping on the hot and cold side," Mattson said.
He said other precautions should include leaving cabinets with pipes inside open so that heat from the house can get in, covering any outdoor spigots and, for any exposed piping in a garage or shed, possibly to leave a space heater on, if that can be done without posing a fire hazard.
As for plants, more vulnerable outdoor plants should be tented as protection against the cold, said Craig Walker, a plant doctor for the Barn Nursery.
Those plants could include gardenias and hydrangeas and other "tender" plants. He said the best material for tenting is burlap or old sheets -- anything but plastic. Any plants in pots should be brought inside.
He also said mulching is key in protecting outdoor plants.
"Mulching helps insulate the roots," Walker said. "Sometimes plants jump out of the ground [when it's cold], so the mulching helps prevent that and then helps hold moisture for dry periods."
Pets should be brought indoors or appropriately sheltered, and people also need to take precautions for themselves.
For those who are homeless, the Salvation Army of Greater Chattanooga will open the doors of its emergency shelter again tonight, according to a news release from Kimberly George, the organization's director of marketing and development.
Gloves, scarves and coats are recommended for any children heading off to school.
Contact staff writer Hannah Smith at hsmith@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6731.