Monday, January 4, 2010 5:00 pm

You think it's cold now? Well, according to the National Weather Service, the worse is yet to come. Accumulating snow late Wednesday night and Thursday will be followed by extremely cold air, the NWS forecasts.

Winter will continue its grip on the mid state with accumulating snow a good possibility late Wednesday night and during the day Thursday. Exact amounts are uncertain at this time but widespread 1 to 3 inches is expected.

An upper level disturbance will drop rapidly out of Canada on Wednesday and into the northern plains and move southeast into the middle Mississippi Valley Wednesday night... and across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys during the day Thursday.

Behind this system will be a significant Arctic outbreak that will bring extremely cold air ... coldest of the season so far ... with single digits by Friday and Saturday mornings and highs on Friday and Saturday only in the teens. Overnight wind chill temperatures will drop to near zero to 5 below.

Middle Tennessee residents should plan ahead for the potential snow at mid-week and the extreme cold to follow. Precautions should be taken to keep water pipes from bursting. Livestock and pets will need care from the cold. Car batteries should be checked to ensure
they will start in the extreme cold. Monitor those that may suffer from the effects of the cold, especially the elderly and young people.

ALSO FROM THE NASHVILLE WEATHER SERVICE:

2009 in Nashville was the coolest year since 2003. The year ended with an average annual temperature of 59.0 degrees which was 0.1 degree above normal. Rainfall for 2009 totaled 57.87 inches which was 9.76 inches above normal.

2009 was the wettest year since 2004 and the 17th wettest of record. The wettest year on record was in 1979 when 70.12 inches was recorded. Snowfall during 2009 totaled 0.7 inch. The last time Nashville had a year with at least normal snowfall was in 2003 when 15.1 inches fell. Normal annual snowfall in Nashville is 9.0 inches.