VALDOSTA — South Georgia will ring in the new year with a weeklong bout of freezing temperatures, according to forecasters.

Cold Canadian air being pulled into the South is the culprit, said Blair Scholl, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office.

“Overnight lows are going to be 10-15 degrees below the normal average,” he said.

The weather service expects daytime highs for Valdosta to stay in the mid-40s all week, with overnight lows in the mid-20s.

While unusual, the temperatures are not expected to be record-breaking, said Danielle Knittle, a meteorologist with the private forecasting firm AccuWeather.

“The record lows for the area are in the teens,” she said.

No warming trend is in sight, Knittle said.

Following a spate of weekend rain, South Georgia should be dry for most of the week, both forecasters said. Wednesday there is a slight chance of “frozen” precipitation to Valdosta’s east, but nothing is predicted for the South Central Georgia region, Scholl said.

Once temperatures get around 20 degrees, checking uninsulated pipes becomes a priority, but people should take care of the “four Ps” — people, plants, pipes and pets — whenever temperatures are expected to stay below freezing (32 degrees) for an extended period, he said.

“Check on elderly neighbors, bring in the plants and the pets and wrap the pipes,” Scholl said.

In Lowndes County, people needing shelter from the cold can find it at at Grace Fellowship Church, 1304 W. Hill Ave., the Salvation Army on Virginia Avenue and New Horizons, 714 Charlton St., said Paige Dukes, public information officer for the county.

Because of the dry conditions, freezing roads are not expected to be a problem around South Georgia, Scholl said. He didn’t expect any severe weather in the region this week.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.