Antelope Valley expecting 4th morning in a row with freezing temps

Freezing temperatures are again expected across the Antelope Valley early Thursday, the fourth morning in a row with weather officials warning of the potential for dangerously cold weather.

Since Monday, the Antelope Valley has been under a freeze warning during the early morning hours, said Joe Sirard, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Oxnard.

“This will be the fourth night in a row of subfreezing temperatures out there.”

Sirard said the freezes were slightly early in the season, but not entirely unprecedented.

Low temperatures are forecast at 30 degrees from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. Thursday. The freeze warning is also in effect for the Salinas Valley in coastal Central California.

“There’s always a chance that pipes could freeze if people don’t prepare,” Sirard said. He said sensitive vegetation could also be at risk in the cold, and the official alert noted that “extended exposure to cold can cause hypothermia for animals and people.”

In Palmdale, the city opened an emergency warming shelter at Victory Outreach, open to all ages from 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. when temperatures drop below 32 degrees. It’s been open nightly since Monday, according to City of Palmdale spokesperson Stella Devine-Knight.

“If temperatures fall below 32 degrees beyond today, the city will request Victory Outreach to continue to open its center,” Devine-Knight said late Thursday. “The City and Victory Outreach will monitor temperatures for the days the center is needed, including Friday through Saturday.”

The Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority has a winter shelter program that began Wednesday, but the two participating shelters located in the Antelope Valley — one in Lancaster and one in Palmdale — were not scheduled to not be open until later this week or next month.