A cold front is sweeping across the Southeast, bringing the season’s coldest night so far. States like Alabama, Georgia, and Florida are under a hard freeze warning from 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday through 9 a.m. Wednesday.
The National Weather Service (NWS) advises residents to take precautions to protect people, pets, plants, and pipes. In northeast Florida and southern Georgia, temperatures could plunge as low as 23 degrees, with parts of Florida’s panhandle and southeast Alabama reaching 24 degrees.
Ahead of the freeze, NWS Jacksonville reminded people on X (formerly Twitter) to dress warmly and follow the “5 P’s of cold weather preparation”: Protect People, Pets, Pipes, Plants, and Practice Fire Safety. To prevent pipes from freezing, the NWS recommends wrapping them, draining them, or allowing them to drip slowly.
Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with NWS, explained that a “very cold area of high pressure” is moving into the Gulf Coast States, causing the drop in temperatures.
He noted that some areas could see temperatures up to 20 degrees below normal, which, while not uncommon, is some of the coldest air northern Florida has experienced in a while.
The freeze warning extends as far south as Hernando County on the Gulf Coast. On Wednesday morning, a frost advisory will affect parts of Central Florida, including Mount Dora, Deland, Tavares, Mascotte, Groveland, Eustis, Leesburg, Deltona, Debary, and Clermont.
Meanwhile, the northeastern U.S. continues to face lake-effect snow warnings. Areas in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania could receive up to 12 inches of snow, with wind gusts reaching 45 mph.
NWS Cleveland warned that these conditions could create whiteout situations, making travel dangerous and potentially life-threatening. Single-digit wind chills are expected Wednesday night into Thursday, along with snow squalls and lake-effect snow, further complicating the weather impact.