Season’s Coldest Air Brings Freeze Watch to Inland Horry County This Weekend

Posted Friday, November 13, 2026 9:52 am

David Hucks (via MyrtleBeachSC)

Frost likely west of the Waterway Saturday night as temperatures fall toward 30 degrees. Beach communities should stay a few degrees warmer, but nobody in the county gets a pass on the chill. A Freeze Watch to Inland Horry County is in effect this weekend.

Myrtle Beach News | Friday, November 13, 2026

If Thursday’s 70-degree afternoon felt like the last gasp of a long, warm fall, that’s because it was. A strong cold front swept across the Grand Strand on Thursday and pushed offshore overnight. Behind it comes the coldest air Horry County has seen since last winter, and for a large part of the county, the first real freeze threat of the season.

Understanding the Freeze Watch to Inland Horry County

Overnight, the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, N.C., put Central and Northern Horry County and inland Georgetown County under a Freeze Watch to Inland Horry County. It runs from late Saturday night through 9 a.m. Sunday, and forecasters say temperatures in the watch area could drop as low as 30 degrees [National Weather Service Wilmington, 2026]. This isn’t snow or ice. There’s no precipitation in the forecast at all. But it is the kind of cold that kills tender plants, damages exposed plumbing and catches people off guard after weeks of shorts weather.

Below is what to expect, who is most at risk, and why the Intracoastal Waterway matters so much this weekend.

The Forecast, Hour by Hour

The drop is already happening. WBTW reported that temperatures were at least 10 degrees colder Friday morning than a day earlier. Coastal spots were in the 40s, and a few inland locations had already dipped into the upper 30s [WBTW News13, 2026]. Friday afternoon should top out in the low 60s, roughly 10 to 15 degrees cooler than Thursday, with plenty of sunshine and a steady breeze [WMBF News, 2026].

Friday night is the first test. WMBF meteorologists expect lows in the mid-30s inland and near 40 along the beaches. They say the lingering wind should keep frost patchy and mostly away from the coast Saturday morning [WMBF News, 2026]. If you’re heading to a high school football game tonight, the station suggests packing a blanket.

Saturday will be bright and sunny but chilly all day, with highs only around the mid-50s and the wind slowly easing through the afternoon [WMBF News, 2026]. That calming wind is what sets up the main event.

Saturday night into Sunday morning is the coldest stretch. Clear skies and light winds let heat escape quickly, so inland lows are expected in the low-to-mid 30s and widespread frost is likely west of the Waterway. Along the Grand Strand itself, forecasters expect upper-30s lows with patchy frost [WMBF News, 2026]. WPDE’s forecast team said a freeze inland “isn’t out of the question” and that frost is highly likely in the same areas [WPDE ABC15, 2026].

Sunday stays cool, in the mid-50s, and Sunday night will again fall into the 30s [WBTW News13, 2026]. That means a second frosty morning is possible Monday, so don’t put the sheets and buckets away after the first one.

So the cold doesn’t arrive all at once. It tightens over three nights, and the middle night is the one to plan around.

The Waterway Line: Why Conway and Loris Are in the Watch but Myrtle Beach Isn’t

Look closely at the watch and you’ll see a split that longtime residents will recognize. The National Weather Service splits Horry County into forecast zones, and this watch covers only the Central Horry and Northern Horry zones. Coastal Horry is not included [National Weather Service Wilmington, 2026]. In Georgetown County, only the inland zone is covered. The watch also reaches well into the Pee Dee and southeastern North Carolina, including Marion, Dillon, Florence, Williamsburg, Columbus and Robeson counties [National Weather Service Wilmington, 2026].

In practical terms, local stations describe the dividing line as the Intracoastal Waterway [WMBF News, 2026]. Communities like Conway, Aynor, Loris, Green Sea, Galivants Ferry and the rural stretches along U.S. 501 and S.C. 9 are on the colder side. Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Garden City sit closer to the Atlantic, which is still holding some of its late-summer warmth and keeps nighttime temperatures a few degrees higher.

A few degrees can make all the difference here. A night that bottoms out at 38 in Surfside and 31 in Aynor are two very different nights for a garden, a citrus tree or an exposed irrigation line. North of the state line, WITN pointed out that low spots, open fields and sheltered areas tend to cool fastest on calm, clear nights [WITN, 2026]. The same holds true across Horry’s farm country and the low-lying land near the Waccamaw and Little Pee Dee rivers.

Coastal residents shouldn’t write the weekend off, though. WBTW’s forecasters noted that while a freeze is far more likely inland, frost is possible even along the Grand Strand [WBTW News13, 2026]. Frost can form on windshields, decks and lawns even when the official air temperature stays a few degrees above 32.

Right on Schedule, Even If It Doesn’t Feel Like It

After a stretch of 70s and even low 80s in early November [WMBF News, 2026], a frost can feel sudden. Historically, it’s right on time.

According to WBTW, North Myrtle Beach typically sees its first freeze around November 15, which happens to be this Sunday. Florence’s average comes a few days earlier, around November 10 [WBTW News13, 2026]. Just up the coast, Wilmington’s average first frost falls around November 18. Last year, that city recorded its first sub-freezing temperatures on November 11 [Wilmington StarNews, 2026].

Some locals may remember last year’s version of this cold snap. On November 10, 2025, an arctic blast dropped snow flurries across parts of the eastern Carolinas. The National Weather Service in Wilmington called them the earliest flurries on record for the region, and lows that night fell into the upper 20s to around 30 [National Weather Service Wilmington, 2025]. This weekend’s setup is different: it’s a dry, sunny cold with no moisture to work with. But it’s a reminder that mid-November cold in Horry County is normal, not unusual.

Horry County isn’t alone, either. The same air mass is bringing freeze warnings and watches to Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia this weekend [Country Herald, 2026]. A national forecast roundup said the frost and freeze risk stretches from northeast Texas to the I-95 corridor of the Carolinas, and that the growing season will likely end across much of the Southeast [USA Today Network via AOL, 2026].

Put simply, a broad push of cold air is reaching across the South, and our part of the coast is near its southeastern edge.

What It Means for Your Home, Your Garden and Your Neighbors

The Weather Service’s own impact statement is short: frost and freeze conditions could kill crops and other sensitive plants and may damage unprotected outdoor plumbing [National Weather Service Wilmington, 2026]. For Horry County households, that translates into a short to-do list for Saturday afternoon, before the sun goes down:

Plants: Cover tender plants, potted tropicals and late fall vegetables with sheets or frost cloth, and bring hanging baskets and container plants indoors. Plastic laid directly on leaves can do more harm than good.
Pipes: Wrap exposed outdoor spigots, backflow preventers and irrigation lines. Rural homes on private wells should check that pump houses and exposed pipes are insulated. A single night near 30 rarely bursts pipes inside a house, but exposed lines outdoors are much more vulnerable.
Pets and livestock: Bring outdoor pets in or make sure they have dry, wind-protected shelter and water that won’t freeze.
People: Check on older neighbors and relatives, especially anyone relying on space heaters for the first time this season. Fireplaces and heaters that haven’t been used since last winter deserve a quick safety check before they’re fired up.

There’s another wrinkle worth noting. WPDE observed that the Carolinas still need a lot of rain to ease drought conditions [WPDE ABC15, 2026]. Dry soil holds less heat than moist soil, and dry air lets temperatures fall faster overnight. Gardeners in drought-stressed beds may want to water lightly on Saturday morning. Well-watered soil gives off a little warmth at night, which can be the difference between frost-nipped leaves and a dead plant.

For the county’s farmers, the timing is less of a crisis than it would be in spring, since most row crops are already harvested. Still, anyone with late plantings, nursery stock or fall greens in the ground should treat Saturday night as the end of the growing season unless they protect what’s left.

Weekend Plans Can Go On, Just Dress for Them

Despite the cold, there’s no rain or wind threat severe enough to cancel anything, and the sunshine will make the daytime pleasant if you dress in layers.

That’s good news for a busy weekend downtown. The Myrtle Beach Songwriters Festival continues Saturday, with its main day running from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. across multiple venues in the Downtown Arts & Innovation District [Grand Strand Brewing Co., 2026]. Most of that schedule runs past sunset, when temperatures will be falling quickly toward the 40s, so walkers moving between venues will want a real jacket. The Long Bay Symphony’s first pops concert of the season, When Henry Met Quincy, takes the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Myrtle Beach Music and Arts Center [WMBF News, 2026]. That one is indoors, but the walk back to the car won’t be.

Anyone planning an early Sunday tee time, fishing trip or morning run should expect frosty windshields and possibly slick wooden boardwalks, docks and bridges. WMBF advised giving yourself extra time to get out the door Sunday morning [WMBF News, 2026].

What’s Next

Watches are the Weather Service’s early heads-up. A Freeze Watch means significant, widespread freezing temperatures are possible [Wilmington StarNews, 2026]. If confidence grows by Saturday, forecasters may upgrade it to a Freeze Warning, which means freezing temperatures are expected. Coastal zones could also get a frost advisory. Check the Weather Service’s Wilmington office Saturday afternoon for the final word before you decide how much to cover up.

After that, relief comes gradually. WBTW expects next week to start below average, with highs near 60 on Monday and a warm-up into the mid-60s by Wednesday [WBTW News13, 2026]. That’s closer to typical mid-November weather, and it should end the frost threat for a while.

The bigger picture is that Horry County’s long, warm fall is over. It’s time to schedule the furnace check, find the heavy coats, and make a plan for the pipes and plants. This weekend is the first cold night of the season, and it won’t be the last.

Myrtle Beach News will update this story if the National Weather Service upgrades the watch or adds advisories for coastal Horry County.