The first major cold spell of the season plunged parts of the southeastern U.S. into record-low temperatures Tuesday, delivering a shock for 18 million people under a freeze warning across Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Meanwhile, several inches of snow blanketed areas along the eastern Great Lakes as the blast of cold air moved through.
The direct shot of Arctic air affecting the eastern two-thirds of the country migrated east — and far southeast — from
the Northern Plains, which was hit with gusty chills and snow over the weekend. For much of the Southeast on Tuesday, that meant an abrupt transition into wintry temperatures after reaching well into the 70s and 80s (21 to 27 Celsius).
Some daily records were “absolutely shattered,” said meteorologist Scott Kleebauer, including a low of 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-2 Celsius) at the airport in Jacksonville, Florida, on Tuesday morning. That broke the previous record low of 35 degrees set in 1977.
The southeastern U.S. will face a few more colder-than-normal days before warming up later in the week.
Iguanas began to “freeze” and fall from trees as temperatures dipped to 40 degrees (4 Celsius) or below across Florida, according to Kleebauer, a forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. r.
“Iguanas, because of their reptilian nature, they go into this kind of survival mode, and their system basically shuts down," he said. “They're not used to those types of temperatures. They only see those only a handful of times a year, if that.”
Posts of the stunned reptiles trickled in on social media as Floridians also faced unfamiliar weather.
“A lot of times you kind of sneak into fall and then you eventually get winter,” Kleebauer said. “This was more — it was warm there for a long time and then all of a sudden it's a shock to the system with how cold the shot was.”
Across West Virginia, a predawn coating of snow and ice contributed to dozens of accidents Tuesday before the sun came out and road conditions improved.
More than 14 inches (37 centimeters) of snow on Monday and Tuesday enabled the White Grass Ski Touring Center in the northern mountain's Canaan Valley to open for cross-country skiing.
Communities downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in upstate New York woke up under a winter weather advisory Tuesday, with the National Weather Service predicting anywhere from 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 centimeters) of snow in cities including Niagara Falls, Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and Jamestown. For many, they are the first few inches of snow in a season that typically delivers around 100 inches (2.5 meters) or more by spring.
Forecasters warned that windy conditions could add to headaches on the road.
The day’s highest totals, around 6 to 9 inches (15 to 23 centimeters), were expected across the traditionally snowy Tug Hill Plateau that sits between Lake Ontario and the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York.
But another storm Wednesday could bring additional inches.
High, gusty winds and heavy snowfall caused dangerous driving conditions late Monday, including a snow squall warning along Interstate 80 in central Pennsylvania.
Farther northeast, parts of Vermont got up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow, making for a messy evening commute Monday. By Tuesday morning, a traffic trailer stuck on a hill temporarily forced the closure of one lane on Interstate 89, and drivers were warned to take extra care when it reopened due to accumulated snow.
Barbara Butch is the village clerk and librarian for the town of Ubly in the center of eastern Michigan’s thumb region. The village was socked with snow Monday, getting nearly 8 inches by the time its more than 800 residents awoke on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
“It just kept coming down,” Butch said. “It just wouldn’t stop.”
Along with the snow came intense cold and strong winds, dropping the wind chill to well below freezing — weather not usually seen so early in the season. A chance of more snow was expected Tuesday afternoon in eastern Michigan, but temperatures are expected to rise into the 50s by the end of the week.
“We’ll end up with a sloppy, slushy mess,” Butch joked. “It’s just part of living where we live.”
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Associated Press writers Margery A. Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, contributed.
