Nancy from Columbia County wants to know what a hard freeze is and when the threat for a freeze will end.

A hard freeze is different from just a regular freeze, because a hard freeze is defined by the destruction of seasonal vegetation, a frozen solid ground surface, and heavy ice forming in puddles.

With an expected low of 28 degrees in Augusta Tuesday morning, we won't quite make the threshold of a hard freeze, but it will be cold enough to damage sensitive vegetation and some areas of water on the ground may freeze. But it's not the very destructive kind of freeze we saw last year, when we had a low of 26 on April 8 right after a period of very warm weather. Last year's hard freeze came later in the growing season, which contributed to the extensive crop damage we had.

The temperatures should warm up above freezing by 9am Tuesday, so the threat for any plant damage will end by that time.

Tuesday night's low is projected to drop into the low to mid 30s, so frost may be a concern, but a freeze is unlikely.