How cold will it get in Vicksburg this weekend and next week? Dangerously cold, National Weather Service meteorologist Nicholas Fenner said.

“Our winds will be turning out of the north with the arrival of a cold front by about lunchtime, Saturday,” Fenner said.

Sunday’s highs, he said, may get into the 40s “at best.”

“And then your next several days after that we are going to struggle to get much above freezing until probably Wednesday.”

Fenner said the Arctic air will bring temperatures down below freezing on Saturday night.

“And then multiple nights with temperatures in the 15-to-20-degree range,” he said.

Adding to the cold temperatures, Fenner said Vicksburg would also be experiencing “breezes” with wind chills down to 15 degrees Saturday night. Sunday night, and into Monday morning, temperatures will be close to 5 degrees with wind chills.

“It is going to be particularly chilly and dangerously cold out there. This is the kind of weather that you want to make sure if your heat is not working or you know anybody that needs a warm place, it’s going to be multiple nights where wind chills will be down in the single digits or teens,” he said.

As far as any precipitation building back into the area, as of Friday, Fenner said it looked like there could be a chance beginning Tuesday morning.

“We have a 40% chance along the interstate I-20 corridor — a little less the farther north you go; a little bit more the farther south you go for snowfall in the area. Our most likely scenario is just for light accumulation, like less than a half inch. But depending on how this system tracks there are possibilities of amounts up to around an inch or two in this area,” Fenner said.

He added that this prediction could change the closer we get to the first of the week.

Warren County Emergency Management Agency Director John Elfer in early January said frigid temperatures and wintry weather always mean it is time for people to consider the four Ps of safety: people, pets, pipes and plants.

“And people come first,” he said.