The calendar says it's mid March, but it feels more like the middle of January. Cold Canadian air is pouring into the Carolinas and promises to bring a hard freeze to the entire area Thursday night.
Temperatures will quickly drop once the sun goes down and likely fall below freezing by midnight, especially away from the coast.
By sunrise Friday, temperatures will bottom out between 25° - 29°.
With temperatures below freezing for a solid eight hours, sensitive plants are highly likely to be damaged or even killed. This includes agricultural field crops already budding or blooming, some annual garden vegetables and ornamental plants and bushes. This is not unusual for our area.
Here are the average dates of the last freeze of the season: March 10-20 for the Grand Strand, March 20-30 for the Pee Dee, April 1-10 for the Border Belt.
Long range projections show the unusually cool air sticking around through the end of the month.
While this will be the last freeze through the weekend, it is still possible we could experience another freeze early next week.
