The first freeze of the season is expected across the northern third of Florida Tuesday night. A Freeze Watch has been issued by the National Weather Service for all inland areas of the Florida Panhandle, and for locations along the I-10 corridor from Lake City to just west of Jacksonville.

The premature winter blast will follow a strong front that was sweeping across the state Monday. Numerous showers and thunderstorms marked the arrival of the new air mass, some even producing heavy rain and frequent lightning in some areas. The front is part of the same storm system that produced a rare early winter blizzard in portions of the Midwest Sunday.

Florida - are you ready for this? Temperatures will plunge 10 to 20° across most of the state over the next two days. #flwx #foreshadowing pic.twitter.com/KhLHc9DK3w

— Florida Storms (@FloridaStorms) November 26, 2018

Breezy northwest winds will usher the colder air into north and central Florida Tuesday, dropping temperature by 10 to 20 degrees from where they were Monday in many areas. Daytime highs will fall well below average across the northern half of the state, only reaching the 50s and lower 60s north of I-4. This is despite a nearly full day of sunshine anticipated.

Following the unusually cool afternoon, overnight lows in the watch area are likely to fall to between 29 and 32 for at least a couple of hours. Subfreezing wind chills (what it feels like when the wind is factored in) are also possible as far south as I-4 in central Florida by Wednesday morning. “Feels like” temperatures in the 40's are even possible as far south as Fort Lauderdale and Naples.