If you need someone to blame for this Arctic blast we’re getting this week, I guess you can start with me. 

If you asked my kids or anyone at The Post, they’d tell you I’ve been complaining about how warm it is since temperatures started rising after last year’s cold snap. In fact, I’ve been practically begging for some cold weather since early September. Well, ask and ye shall receive, apparently. That’s my bad, everyone.

In my defense, it stays really hot for a really long time in the South and, the older I get, the more and more I dread the intense heat. And that’s unfortunate, considering that is what comprises the majority of our year down this way. And I’m not sure why, other than the aforementioned aging, I’m starting to get so cranky with the hot weather. After all, I’m from the deep, deep South. When people ask, I like to tell them that, being from Mobile, Alabama, if I had grown up any farther south, I’d have been treading water (Florida doesn’t count and we all know it). 

Regardless of my inability to handle the Southern heat as of late, when I asked for cold weather, I didn’t mean Canada-cold, which is apparently what we’re getting for the rest of this week. Okay. Lesson learned. But, I have to admit, until the wind blows, it does feel pretty nice outside, at least in small doses. If you don’t stay out there for too long, it’s a nice change of pace from feeling like the sun put a hit out on you.

But, as you’ll see on today’s front page, cold weather comes with some dangerous side effects, especially in places like Mississippi where we don’t get it this intensely very often. So, with that in mind, we went out and talked to everyone from meteorologists to officials with the local EMA and fire department to make sure you guys have all of the information on how to stay safe during this blast of Arctic weather.

And if you’re thinking you already know all of the advice, think again. Every time we reach out to John Elfer at EMA or Fire Chief Derrick Stamps, they have new tips or upgraded advice about old problems, all of which makes us all safer and more comfortable as we endure this assault from the north.

So, give their advice a read, hunker down and stay safe through this weather, and if you feel the need to mutter some less-than-complimentary words about my desire for cooler temps, I’ll understand. I should be careful what I wish for.

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.