Cold air pushing down from the north and moist air coming up from the Gulf could make for some pretty crappy weather in our area over the next few days.

It may be especially bad for driving.

"This far down in Georgia our concern is that the snow will stay west and we may get more freezing rain," Mike Hodges, director of the Liberty Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday, after a briefing from the National Weather Service.

The service's Charleston office is predicting that Liberty, Long and Bryan counties will get a tenth to a quarter of an inch snow and ice Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

"Please stay aware of the changes in the weather and its direction of travel," Hodges said. "Some accumulations of ice are expected and this could make travel a problem."

The service says the arctic cold front will move through the area this evening. Highs Tuesday are forecast to be in the 40s, while Wednesday's highs are not expected to be in the mid-30s. Lows both nights will be in the 20s.

The service said the first signs up what it calls "upstream precipitation" started showing up along the Gulf Coast this morning.

The service has put the entire region covered by the Charleston office under a winter storm watch and noted: "Looks quite likely that the watch will be upgraded to a warning later today for a least much of the area.

Officials are already encouraging people to rethink any travel plans, stay at home if possible and to drive carefully if you do have to go out Tuesday-Wednesday.

Another significant problem foreseen is power outages.

Hodges said, "We will have a couple of bad days, but on Thursday the temps will again reach the 60 to 70s."