A surge of arctic air is spilling south, dropping temperatures across two-thirds of the country and setting up a deep freeze from the plains to the Gulf.
Many people woke up to record lows Tuesday morning, stretching from the Carolinas to the Gulf Coast. Areas like Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama, and even Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, started off the day with temperatures either at or below freezing.
Chicago is already feeling it. The city’s first winter storm warning in nearly two years brought several inches of snow and slick streets across Cook County. Lake-effect bands are still expected to pile on through Tuesday.
Just southeast of there, heavy snow blanketed parts of Indiana, with some areas receiving nearly a foot of snow.
The same cold blast will now drive east, bringing frigid mornings to the south and record chills through the southeast. Even parts of Florida will drop into the 30s and 40s, with some northern parts of the state already feeling that cold.
Forecasters say this polar plunge will stick around through midweek, before temperatures start a slow climb back to normal.
