Washington was one of at least five cities in eastern North Carolina to set record cold temperatures Wednesday morning, according to weather sources, including the National Weather Service.

Washingtonians woke up to 20-degree weather Wednesday. The low of 19 degrees was reached at 6:55 a.m., breaking the Nov. 19, 1903, record of 23 degrees, according to the NWS. The other four cities were Greenville at 19 degrees, two degrees colder than the previous record set on Nov. 19, 1959; Kinston at 18 degrees, breaking the former record of 20 degrees on Nov. 19, 1949; Morehead City at 26 degrees, breaking the Nov. 19, 1951, record of 28 degrees; and Manteo at 30 degrees, breaking the record of 31 degrees on Nov. 19, 1995.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, most, if not all, of Beaufort County was below freezing, with the NWS reporting 29 degrees at Pinetown.

Forecasters predict temperatures will warm up today in Beaufort County, with highs in mid-50s, according to the NWS office in Newport. Tonight’s low is expected to be around the freezing mark.

An Artic blast began ushering in the record temperatures Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. This week’s Arctic blast is the second this month, the first being Nov. 11-15. The third Arctic surge, originating in Siberia and sweeping across the North Pole and down from Canada was expected to begin arriving Wednesday and today, according to NWS forecasters and other weather experts.

Relief from the Arctic blasts is expected to arrive this weekend.

“I’m ecstatic to report that, thankfully, we have had no known problems with facilities or transportation due to the cold,” said Sarah Hodges, public-information officer for Beaufort County Schools, on Wednesday morning.

The freezing temperatures, as of late Wednesday morning, caused no problems with Washington’s water lines, according to Allen Lewis, the city’s public-works director.

“If I had to guess … if we have any problems with water lines it’s going to show up in two or three days. It didn’t show up overnight,” Lewis said about 11 a.m. Wednesday. “As far as everything else is concerned, don’t know of anything. To be honest with you, I kind of doubt the city will have any issues with our water lines because (Tuesday) night was the first deep freeze, and I don’t think it’s supposed to freeze again (Wednesday) night. Most of our stuff is deep enough that one night like this isn’t going to bother it.”