It’s colder than a _____.

You are welcome to finish that sentence however you’d like because you just made it through the coldest night in Atlanta in at least 18 years.

“We are facing low temperatures around sunrise between 2 and 9 in Atlanta and zero and minus 5 in the mountains,” says WSB meteorologist Kirk Mellish. We broke the record low for this date of 10 set back in 1970 with an official low of 6.

But it’s going to feel much worse.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill warning for Bartow and Cherokee Counties, plus the mountain counties until 1 p.m. Tuesday. Winds will blow between 5 and 20 mph.  That will make it feel like 5 to 10 degrees below zero.

The last time a wind chill warning was issued in Georgia was back in 1993.

The rest of Atlanta is just under a wind chill advisory.

Frost bite is possible to any piece of exposed skin if you are outside too long, doctors say.

[ That is a major reason why pretty all every school system in metro Atlanta is closed. ]

But Mellish says we will slowly pull our way out of the record cold today. But we won’t get above freezing until midday tomorrow.

It will be mainly sunny for your Tuesday with highs around 25. Tonight will still be very cold, but at least it’s back in the teens. Mellish says lows from 12 to 17.

The ridiculous temperatures clear out of here by Wednesday as we finally get back above freezing. Look for plenty of sun with highs around 42 and lows 24-28.

Mellish says the clouds return on Thursday with highs in the low 40s and lows above freezing.

There is a 40 percent of a light shower on Friday with highs around 50. We finally get back to 60 on the weekend, but there is a 60 percent chance of rain Saturday.