Antonio Cipollari braves the dropping temperatures as he hangs Christmas lights outside Pascual Productions Monday afternoon. Cipollari said they got a late start to the busy season, but wanted to share in the holiday spirit.

From Amarillo all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, there’s almost nowhere warm to retreat to as a historically chill blast of Arctic air gets set to descend on Cullman and most of the southern United States ahead of the approaching Christmas holiday.

By the time Santa has settled back at the North Pole on Sunday, Cullman County will be in the midst of a protracted cold snap; a “dangerous” weather event, according to the National Weather Service, in which even daytime high temperatures could fail to reach the freezing mark for at least three consecutive days.

The massive push of Arctic air is expected to arrive Thursday evening, initially bringing a light, 20-percent possibility of snowfall in Cullman County in the overnight period from Thursday to Friday morning. More certain is the icy air itself: After reaching a forecast high in the mid-50s during the day Thursday, temperatures are expected to plunge into the high 20s during the night and continue falling on Friday — a day whose current local high temperature is expected not to climb out of the 20s.

From there, things only get even colder. The Huntsville office of the National Weather Service is forecasting Friday-night low temperatures in the single digits, with wind chills that could make the outside air feel as cold as -10 degrees. Though skies should be mostly clear from Friday on through the Christmas holiday, the cold pattern will remain firmly in place through the weekend, with Saturday’s highs and lows again nearing their bone-chilling Friday levels.

Fortunately, the lack of substantial winter precipitation means widespread power outages and weather-related travel hazards aren’t expected threats this weekend. But NWS and preparedness officials advise that residents be ready in the event an incidental outage does occur — because if it does, the diving temperatures will bring immediate impacts.

“People need to be preparing their vehicles now, as well as making preparations for a secondary source of heat in case the power does go out,” said Cullman Emergency Management Agency director Tim Sartin on Monday. “Also, make sure that you have plenty of food — which, since it’s a holiday weekend, will hopefully be a little easier to do.

“We aren’t expecting any weather that would cause widespread outages, but we’ve had so much rain lately and the ground is completely saturated that, if we get any significant wind blowing, there is a chance that a tree could fall across a line here or there in an isolated type of occurrence. We’re not looking for that to happen in any kind of large-scale way. But people definitely need to have preparedness in mind, simply because the temperatures and their effects will be so extreme.”

In general, NWS urges residents to follow the “Four Ps” of cold-weather preparedness: People, Pets, Plants, and Pipes. “Dress in layers, check on those vulnerable to the cold, remember outdoor pets, wrap pipes or let faucets drip,” the service advises. “Have a plan in the event of a power outage.”

Follow the Cullman County Emergency Management Agency on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CullmanCountyEMA/) for weather-related updates as this weekend’s Arctic blast approaches.