Brrrr! If you haven’t taken that heavy coat, gloves and other warm clothing out of the closet yet, think about doing just that today.
It’s going to be cold in the area the next few days as an arctic air mass that pushed into eastern North Carolina on Tuesday will linger, according to the National Weather Service’s office in Newport.
Today’s highs are expected in the upper 30s, with lows tonight dipping into the mid-20s, according to the National Weather Service. On Thursday, wind-chill values will be in the upper teens to low 20s.
A cold high-pressure system began moving into eastern North Carolina from the northwest early Tuesday. That system is expected to shift offshore Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
“Yes, the answer is always yes when it gets cold because everything is directly related to degrees and degree days,” said F. Ray Moore with F. Ray Moore Propane, when asked Tuesday if his propane service is getting phone calls from customers wanting to make sure they have enough propane to heat with during the next several days. “But we don’t run our business as people are calling in. Everything is manned and routed so there’s no real increased load. … Most of our customers, I’m talking about 95 percent of them, are on a route system. So, it’s not a fire drill when you have a weather issue. It’s where we know, based on the weather, how many gallons per day 3,500 customers burn. As long as we’re servicing that many gallons per day, we’re keeping up with the weather.”
Several plumbing-related websites urge people who live in residences with exposed water pipes should make sure those pipes are well-insulated or, if possible, exposed to heat sources such as heat tape to keep them from freezing. For pipes already wrapped in heat tape, make sure the heat tape is working properly.
The website Diastersrus.org suggests knowing the five P’s — protect people, protect pets, protect plants, protect exposed pipes and practice fire safety.