While Punxsutawney Phil’s season prediction is set for Monday, Feb. 2, Butler’s weather outlook remains frozen for at least the next several days.

Weather forecasts show temperatures eventually will warm up next week, but will likely remain below freezing. Highs will hover somewhere around 20 to 30 degrees during the middle of next week.

“We’ll see warmer, higher temperatures, maybe in the upper teens and low twenties. That trend continues through Wednesday into the Butler County area,” said Jason Frazier, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “The high temperatures maybe will touch 30, but likely the upper twenties and they’ll fall again following Thursday and Friday.”

Butler County has seen overnight and morning temperatures below zero through the past week with wind chills around -10. This weekend will see similar conditions.

While the prolonged deep freeze has gripped the region, it is not highly unusual to see temperatures reach the negatives in January and February. Frazier said just last year the air temperature reached below zero twice during the winter season.

The coldest temperature in recent years was in February 2015, when the lows reached -10, Frazier said.

Butler County residents won’t have to deal with such frigid temperatures next week, but the area will likely stay below freezing.

“The cold isn’t going away any time soon,” Frazier said.

This weekend, another weather system is expected to slam parts of the east coast, dropping more snow from the Middle-Atlantic into the Carolinas. Western Pennsylvania is not expected to be impacted.

Frazier said any snow late next week would likely amount to no more than an inch, “depending on how the system tracks.”

The National Weather Service recommends dressing in extra layers to reduce the impacts of the cold when spending time outside. Residents should also remain vigilant of monitoring vulnerable piping and other infrastructure that could be affected by prolonged freezes.

Frazier also said bodies of water — like rivers, lakes and ponds — should be treated with abundant caution.

“Try to be smart, especially with rivers,” he said. “You shouldn’t walk on them. Even if there is a lot of ice. If it were to crack and break, you wouldn’t only fall in, you’d be pulled by a stronger undercurrent, creating a dangerous situation.”