An extreme cold watch has been issued for southwest Alabama and will be in effect from Sunday night through Monday morning. The counties affected are Choctaw, Washington, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Escambia, Covington, Mobile and Baldwin.

Colder-than-normal temperatures are expected to remain in Alabama, with a system bringing bitterly cold air into the state next week. And the long-range forecasts from the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center are calling for the pattern of below-normal conditions to remain in place until Feb. 7, at least.