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The National Weather Service has issued a freeze watch for the North Shore, southern Mississippi, and from Houma north towards Baton Rouge. The watch is in effect from midnight into Thursday morning.

The forecast for Wednesday night calls for temperatures in the watch area to drop below freezing for at least four hours and this could cause damage to sensitive crops, vegetation, and plants and precautions must be made to protect them.

The coldest air is expected to settle into place by midnight Wednesday night and remain below freezing until early Thursday morning.