Friday, the space inside Hart’s Country Store was filled with the aroma of freshly cooked food and the sounds of lunchtime chatter — but more importantly, it was warm.

That’s exactly why Hinton Wiggins, Steve Thomasson and Robert Hart found themselves a seat at a lunch table just in time to catch the noonday weather report that predicted lows in the teens tonight and Sunday.

“What makes this weather so bad isn’t just the cold, it’s that it’s lasted so long,” Hart said.

When asked if the trio could remember any time when they experienced colder temperatures locally, each had interesting answers.

Wiggins said in his 75 years he couldn’t remember any time it was colder.

“I’ve heard people talking about 1984 when it snowed, but for the life of me I can’t remember it,” he said. “I do remember that one year in March it snowed. I remember it was March because my wife was a judge for the Rattlesnake Rodeo beauty pageant.”

Thomasson, a chicken farmer, agreed with the talk of “1984.”

“I vaguely remember that,” he said. “It was March, wasn’t it? Luckily, we haven’t had any major problems with the farm because of the weather. I couldn’t get the truck to crank or the tractor, so I thought it was good time to go to lunch.”

When it came to Hart’s turn to answer, he said, “We’re old. I don’t remember that far back.”

Luckily for all the county’s residents, temperatures are expected to slowly increase during the next few days to almost near freezing.

“At least the sun’s out,” Wiggins said. “So it could be worse.”