Temperatures plummeted overnight to 2 degrees in the north Georgia mountains, 14 in Atlanta and 26 as far south as New Orleans as the Gulf Coast felt more like Green Bay.
In Mississippi, a low of 15 degrees early Tuesday tied the record low for the date, which was set in 1979.
In Alabama, overnight lows dropped to 8 degrees near Cullman and 20 degrees in Mobile.
Georgia saw one of its coldest temperatures of the winter: 2 degrees shortly before dawn Tuesday at a U.S. Forest Service weather station at Toccoa, Georgia.
Along the Georgia coast, the National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a winter storm watch as a low-pressure system in the Atlantic Ocean could bring ice and freezing rain to the area late Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Low temperatures in Athens are expected to dip into the teens Thursday and Friday nights.
