HOUSTON -- Houston has experienced chilly temperatures for a while, but it's going to get much colder. An arctic front will bring freezing temperatures to the area that is expected to stick around for several days, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.

The National Weather Service issued a hard freeze watch from Thursday evening through Saturday morning. A hard freeze watch means sub-freezing temperatures are possible. Residents should prepare for extended periods of freezing temperatures from late Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning, officials said.

"Take Wednesday to get ready for this. We're serious about it because of temperatures in the 20s three nights in a row," KPRC Local 2 chief meteorologist Frank Billingsley said. "A hard freeze watch means we're expecting temperatures to be 25 degrees or below for two hours or more. I expect this to go from a hard freeze watch to a warning as we get into (Wednesday)."

Arctic air is expected in the area on Thursday through Saturday.

"High pressure is going to continue to filter down, the jet stream is going to buckle and it's going to bring all of this cold air right into Texas beginning Thursday and lasting until Sunday, when that high begins to push away," Billingsley said. "We'll have dangerous wind chills on top of that."

"We've been talking about snow and sleet," KPRC Local 2 meteorologist Anthony Yanez said. "It just doesn't look like there's much of an opportunity for that, because temperatures ahead of the front are in the 40s. That's a cold rain. Behind this is a dry, cold air in the 20s. It looks like we'll see more rain on Wednesday and then the cold air starts to move in on Thursday, so it's not going to have the timing to where we would have some sleet or some snow."

Yanez said it will dry out before the freezing temperatures arrive.

Temperatures in some areas will be below freezing for a couple of days.

"From Brenham, The Woodlands all the way into Moss Hill and up to the north, we may not get above 32 degrees for two straight days," Yanez said. "Here in Houston, we'll see mornings in the 20s and then Thursday afternoon and evening, 30s. Friday afternoon, 30s. Saturday, finally we get into the 40s."

The high Tuesday is 50 degrees and it will warm up a bit to 56 degrees on Wednesday.

Thursday will start off at 42 degrees, but the temperature will drop throughout the day to a low of 28 degrees.

Friday has a high of 34 degrees and low of 24 degrees and Saturday will warm up to 42 degrees with a low of 20 degrees.

It's been 20 years since temperatures dipped this low for this long a period.

In December 1989, the temperature in Houston was below freezing for 48 hours straight -- from 4 p.m. on Dec. 22 until 4 p.m. on Dec. 24.

Snow fell and pipes burst all over the city.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Houston was on Dec. 23, 1989, at Bush Intercontinental Airport. It was 7 degrees.

"Our morning temperatures are not going to be this cold," Yanez said. "Our afternoon temperatures will be very similar to this record -- in the 20s on Thursday, 30s on Friday and 40s on Saturday."

Everyone Prepares

The Texas Department of Transportation is preparing roads, just in case there's some sleet or ice. Workers will spray magnesium chloride on the roads to prevent them from freezing. It has a lifespan of about three days.

Many southeast Texas residents went to home improvement stores and stocked up on items to protect their pipes and plants.

Plants at Discovery Green were covered to keep them from freezing.

The Houston Independent School District said it will leave heating systems on overnight to ensure that schools will be warm when students arrive.

District officials said heating crews and head custodians will also come in early to respond to any heating issues that may arise.

SEARCH, an organization that helps the homeless, handed out blankets, socks and water at a Houston park to make sure the homeless were prepared if they did not make it to a shelter.

"A lot of times, if it's this cold, the shelter will open their doors to try and let more people in. But there are people who sleep out here and it's going to sleet on Thursday," said Layla Becker with SEARCH.

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