Freeze Ahead Thursday Night; Here's What To Expect

By CBS 2 meteorologist Tammie Souza

CHICAGO (CBS)--  What a difference a day makes.  Put away the short sleeves and get out that fall puffer coat. Yesterday's summer-like tease of 79 degrees has tumbled by 25 degrees to the mid-50's today.

Thursday night, will be the coldest night since May 9 when we dipped to 31 degrees. Tonight, we will also see our first freeze of the season and a Freeze warning has been issued for the entire Chicago area for 1 to 9 a.m. Friday morning when temperatures will hover between 28 and 34 degrees for several hours.

The only exception is the immediate metro area in central Cook County due to the Urban Heat Island effect from all of the pavement and buildings.

Although you personally may not be ready for such an abrupt change from warm to cold, we are only a few days late or a few days early for our first freeze depending on where you live.  At O'Hare, the average first freeze is Oct. 13 and at Midway it is Oct 23.

Along the Lakefront it is usually closer to Halloween.

If you have any delicate plants or flowers outside that are not freeze or frost resistant, you will need to cover them tonight with a cloth, sheet, towel, etc. or bring them indoors.

This chilly weather will continue tomorrow with a brief reprieve on Saturday before another push of cold air arrives Sunday.

On the brighter side, fall leaves are beginning to show brilliant colors across the area and Halloween is just two weeks away.

Hopefully, it won't be any colder than last Halloween when our high was 33 degrees and low was 20 degrees with more than 3 inches of snow that day.