Bone-chilling temperatures are on the way.

Forecasters  Sunday predicted highs in Hall County staying below freezing into Tuesday and lows dropping to the teens over the next couple of days.

And today, expect wind gusts of up to 30 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.

“Winds this strong can make driving difficult,” states a wind advisory issued by the service. Also, “winds may be strong enough ... to result in some downed trees, power lines and scattered power outages.”

A strong cold front moving through North Georgia kicked up a few afternoon flurries in the Hall area on Sunday.

A stronger chance of snow,  and possible accumulation of up to 1 inch, was predicted for the North Georgia mountains by Sunday night.

School systems in White, Lumpkin, Towns, Union and Habersham counties canceled classes on Monday.  So did North Georgia Technical College for all of its campuses.

There are some hazardous conditions on the roads,” said Cami Downey, senior shift
supervisor at White County 911.

She added that residents should stay off the roads, which were getting coated with ice and snow Sunday evening.

Some places in North Georgia are going to be downright frigid the next few days.

Helen, for example, isn’t expected to hit above freezing until Wednesday, with a low temperature of 9 degrees expected tonight. The high today is predicted to be 24.

Generally for the region, mostly sunny skies are in the outlook Monday through Wednesday, with temperatures beginning to improve on Wednesday.

The high temperature in Hall is expected to reach 43 on Wednesday, 48 on Thursday and 55 on Friday. The mercury is supposed to dip again on Saturday, with the high reaching 47.

A chance for rain is expected to return Wednesday night and linger through Friday, according to the Weather Service.

The first day of winter — the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere — is Dec. 21.