Record cold, snow plunge East into winterlike conditions
Unusual cold and snow blasted the East this week, making November feel like January, with more than a foot of lake-effect snow and freezing temperatures far into Florida.
AccuWeather’s Leslie Hudson bundled up and headed to northern Florida to see how farmers were coping with the surprise arctic chill.
Extreme cold and snow rushed into the East from Monday into Tuesday, sending temperatures to record lows for November, covering the autumn foliage with snow, and causing snow to fall at some spots that rarely see snow this time of year.
AccuWeather National Reporter Leslie Hudson reported from a farm in Monticello, Florida, near the Georgia border Tuesday morning amid the early-season chill. Frost had appeared on the ground and Hudson said that farmers were up all night protecting their mandarin oranges with sprinklers and other equipment.
A person jogs as snow covers the ground with fall colors on the trees in Evanston, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
Temperatures dropped into the teens as far south as Alabama and Georgia, while readings in Florida and Mississippi fell into the 20s. Two locations in Florida — Blackwater Reservoir and Eddy Tower — recorded lows of 24 degrees. The mercury fell to 3 degrees F at both Mount Mitchell, North Carolina, and Mount Leconte, Tennessee. Snowshoe, West Virginia fell to 10 degrees, while Hot Springs, Virginia fell to 13.
In Orlando, the mercury bottomed out at 36 degrees, marking the coldest November morning in the city since Nov. 22, 1981.
Current temperatures at 9 a.m. EST. Minimum temperatures were even lower.
In central Florida, cold-stunned iguanas fell from the trees. More than two dozen record low temperatures were set Tuesday morning in the Southeast.
Snow piles up in Midwest, Northeast
Snow shovels were needed around the Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast as snow piled up -- the first accumulations of the season for many residents.
Up to 18 inches of lake-effect snow fell in Michigan in the town of Negaunee, with 14 inches in Walkerton, Indiana; 13 inches in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin; and 13 inches at Davis, West Virginia.
48-hour snowfall amounts as of 9 a.m. Tuesday. Localized amounts exceeded 1 foot in some areas.
The heavy snow wreaked havoc with traffic in the Midwest, causing accidents across several states.
Snowflakes even reached Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Monday, which was the earliest sighting on record. The previous record for the earliest snow was on Nov. 12, 2013. Daily snowfall records were also broken in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.
