Freeze warning in effect for mid-Missouri

Mid-Missouri is under a freeze warning starting Wednesday until 10 a.m. Thursday.

About 90 percent or more of sensitive or blooming vegetation will be damaged because of the low temperatures.

Temperatures haven’t been as cold as it is Wednesday since February 9, and it’s the 6th day in a row that mid-Missouri has seen below average temperatures.

March has been mild and February was warm with the average temperatures 12 degrees above normal.

Many crops and vegetation have already started to bloom because of the warmer weather, and those plants, if not covered, will most likely freeze.

If crops and vegetation last through the freeze warning, they will most likely continue to bloom through the weekend because warmer temperatures are expected.

Even though it’s been a mild winter for 2017, statistics from the National Weather Service show that in 2015, the number of extreme cold weather-related deaths nation-wide increased from the year before.

There were 53 cold weather-related deaths in 2015, 10 more than 2014.

Majority of the cold weather-related deaths, about 66 percent, occurred outside or in open areas.

Statistics from the National Weather Service also show that the age range with the most cold weather-related deaths in 2015 was 80-89 years of age. More men were victims of cold weather-related deaths than women in 2015.