I’m issuing a Caldo Alert. It’s going to get cold up in here this weekend and you need to prepare.

El Paso winters are typically more delightful than frightful. Case in point, it was unseasonably warm in November and above-average temperatures have persisted into December. But all signs point to a much colder Saturday and Sunday, and our first freeze of the season is likely.

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Back-to-back cold fronts marching towards El Paso are bringing the winds and cold air, and all the locals in the weather predicting business expect morning temps will dip very near or at freezing on Sunday morning, Dec. 12.

My recommendation as a non-qualified, high school educated radio guy who has had no training in the field of meteorology and has no idea how Doppler radar works or what all the pretty colors on the weather models mean is to clean out the grocery store shelf of bread, milk, hot chocolate mix, Pop Tarts, and toilet paper immediately.

A better idea is to pull out the fuzzy socks and flannel pajamas, and make a determined effort to get to your favorite Mexican restaurant before they run out of caldo.

Pipes

Best is to prepare the three Ps for possible freezing temperatures: pets, plants, and pipes. Let's start with pipes. Here's what El Paso Water recommends:

Insulate exposed pipes and faucets outside and around your home, including those in unheated areas like basements, garages, attics, or crawl spaces. Let cold water drip from faucets served by exposed pipes.

Running a drip of water through the pipes helps prevent pipes from freezing because the temperature of the water is above freezing.

Plants

The surest way of protecting plants is to bring them indoors. If that's not an option than cover them up. Farmer's Almanac suggests using blankets, bed sheets, or drop cloths.Do not use plastic, they caution.

Drape loosely to allow for air circulation. Do not let the material rest on the plants, and remove the coverings when temperatures rise above freezing.

Watering deep the day before also helps. "Moist soil can hold up to four times more heat than a dry soil, conducting heat faster to the soil surface, and keeping the air above it about five degrees warmer."

Pets

Cute pug dog sleep on pillow in bed and wrap with the blanket feel happy in relax time
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If you can't or won't bring your pet indoors then buy your doggo or kitty an insulated pet house. At the very least, build some kind of a protective enclosure to shield them from the wind and cold. Don’t be a d***.

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