Freeze Warnings Stretch Midwest to Southeast

A broad, early-season cold snap has prompted freeze and frost warnings from the Upper Midwest through parts of the Southeast, affecting nearly seven million people from Wisconsin to North Carolina and with the most severe conditions expected tonight into Friday morning. Freeze Warnings include southern Wisconsin (inland lows in the upper 20s, mid-20s near the Illinois border), Omaha/eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, while central Indiana — including Marion County — and much of northeastern Illinois and Chicago face frost advisories and potential hard freezes. Clear skies, high pressure and light winds are producing rapid overnight radiational cooling and lows into the mid- to upper-20s in some spots, posing a killing-freeze risk to tender plants and risking damage to unprotected outdoor plumbing. Officials also warn rural roads could develop black ice in spots and say conditions should moderate into the weekend as southerly winds return and temperatures rebound into the 50s–60s.