Forecasts issued late Monday showed that, by the time you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that yesterday’s rain will have turned to freezing rain.

Icy conditions were expected to begin between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

The National Weather Service predicted a chance one-tenth to one-third of an inch of ice accumulation in Covington County, which could result in significant travel impacts and the potential for power outages due to ice accumulation and downed tree limbs between 6 a.m. and noon.

By Tuesday afternoon, the precipitation is expected to change to sleet and snow, and there is a potential for one to three inches of accumulation.

Highs are expected to reach the mid-30s today, dipping to 29 tonight. Wednesday afternoon, the highs should reach 36 in Covington County, but temps will dip into the teens early Thursday.

Both the City of Andalusia and the Covington County held strategic planning sessions on Monday.

In Andalusia, Mayor Earl Johnson urged citizens are urged to stay home and off streets and roads, especially if ice develops.

Police, Fire, Public Works and all utility departments will be fully staffed and ready to respond should conditions warrant.

Jeff Puckett, who supervises the city’s electric department, reminded residents that in the event of a power outage, they should connect generators directly to appliances and not to power sources.

“If they are not connected properly, generators can cause deadly accidents,” he said. “If a generator is connected to a power source improperly, the current can ran back through the system and throw the high voltage on someone else.”

Even if downed power lines appear not to be live, don’t touch them, he said.

Both the City of Andalusia and Covington Electric will have crews on standby to deal with power outages.

“Our staff is carefully monitoring a winter weather system approaching the area and our employees are prepared for possible power outages in the six counties served by CEC,” said Ed Short, CEC general manager. “CEC is ready to restore power quickly to all affected areas should the need arise. We would like to remind our members and the public to report downed power lines immediately and to never approach, or touch a downed power line. Any dangling lines or lines on the ground can be deadly,” added Short.

CEC members are asked to call their cooperative directly if they experience a disruption in power during normal working hours. If an outage occurs after normal working hours, please call 1-800-239-1193.