LAURINBURG — Scotland County residents will want to bundle up over the next few days as temperatures drop to record nighttime lows for November.
According to the National Weather Service in Raleigh, the area will see a low of 29 degrees going into Saturday morning — which is more typical to see in January — due to the arctic blast hitting the Eastern United States.
“You’re going to get closer to normal November temperature Sunday and Monday with some rain going into Tuesday,” said Meteorologist Tom Green. “But then it’s going to drop down to a low of 24 degrees on Wednesday.”
Green added that the drop is from a second arctic blast that will be going through the area again. But the temperatures will warm up to the 50s during the day.
“For people who are going out throughout the day, we suggest dressing layers,” Green said. “Since the weather will be warming up significantly throughout the day, it’s best to have layers so you can take them off throughout the day.”
For those with gardens and outdoor plants, the drastic temperature change is not a good sign. Most plants that are in gardens currently, like collards, survive the winters as the temperature change is gradual, according to Shannon Newton of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
“If you have houseplants, bring them inside, wash them off to get all the insects off, but bring them inside soon,” Newton said. “As for those with small vegetable gardens, use newspaper or pine straw to cover the plants to help protect them — but make sure to remove it the next morning.”
Newton added that the ability to survive varies from plant to plant and that some will turn brown, but will recuperate from the sudden temperature change. She added that people can use plastic to cover plants to protect them, but it’s important to remove the plastic early in the morning.
“While plastic is an option, if you don’t remove it before the sun comes up it can burn your plants and melt,” Newton said. “Plastic can do more harm than good if you’re not careful. Right now we’re all just waiting to see how the weather turns out.”
Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com