While schools in Dallas County decided to start on time Thursday, others are planning to delay opening due to the Arctic blast headed to Alabama.

More than 30 Alabama school systems are delaying opening on Thursday because of forecasts of bitterly cold weather.

Most of the postponements are in north and central Alabama. But systems as far south as southeast Alabama also are telling students to come later than normal.

Officials are delaying openings because of temperatures in the single-digits and teens and wind-child readings that are expected to fall below zero in areas.

The postponements give temperatures a chance to warm up a little before children have to stand outside in the cold waiting on buses. They also help guard against overtaxing school heating systems while temperatures are in the single-digits and teens.

Utility systems from the Tennessee Valley to south Alabama are asking customers to reduce power usage during the cold snap.

Dallas County and all of Central Alasbama is under a hard freeze warning through 9 a.m. Thursday. The area was under a wind chill advisory Wednesday night, but those were expected to relax overnight but remain strong enough to drop wind chill values down to below zero in far north Alabama and to the mid teens in the south.

The temperature Thursday is only expected to rise to just above freezing.

Anyone taking precautions against the cold temperatures (protecting pipes, plants, etc.) will want to keep those in place until Friday morning, according to the Dallas County EMA.