First big freeze of season grips Eastern US, as snow reaches the South

More than 190 million Americans woke up to an arctic blast on Tuesday, with most people seeing temperatures 15–25 degrees below average from the Plains across the eastern half of the U.S., including the South, which set numerous record low temperatures.

A large dip in the jet stream has ushered in polar air from Canada, some three weeks before the start of meteorological winter. 

Communities around the eastern Great Lakes in the Midwest and Northeast dealt with powerful lake-effect snowstorms throughout the weekend and into Monday, with a final burst expected Tuesday.

Meanwhile, snow accumulated as far south as Blairsville, Georgia, overnight Tuesday, with some flakes even spotted in Atlanta. 

Lancaster County in northeastern South Carolina received a fresh coating of snow Monday night. 

Storm Chaser Mike Boylan recorded powerful snow flurries at higher elevations in Roan Mountain, Tennessee.

Mobile, Alabama, Savannah, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida were just some of the cities across the South that set record low temperatures.

The temperature in Orlando also broke a record, falling to 37 degrees, its coldest November morning in nine years.

Tallahassee, Florida, reached freezing Tuesday morning, colder than several major Northeast metro areas like New York City and Boston.

A Cold Weather Advisory covers parts of southern Alabama, southern Georgia, and much of the Florida panhandle and Central Florida.

Freeze Alerts cover a broad stretch of the Gulf and Southeast Coast from Louisiana to Virginia on Tuesday morning.

The polar preview will be short-lived, with temperatures expected to rebound across the country by Wednesday.

Eastern Great Lakes face a final round of lake-effect snow

Meanwhile, wind chills will drop to feel-like temperatures into the teens for the Midwest and interior Northeast, which is expected to see a final round of lake-effect snow.

Westerly winds will produce periods of heavy snow for the eastern shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, the heaviest accumulation will be just inland from the lakeshore, where elevation rises some 1,500 feet, part of a geographic feature called the Chautauqua Ridge. 

Heavy snow is expected across southwest Ashtabula County in Ohio, southern Erie and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania, and Chautauqua County in western New York, where an additional 5-8 inches of snow will be possible.