The first real taste of fall is coming for millions of people across the Central Plains, Northeast and Southeast. 

Temperatures well below average are expected beginning Friday, but we have to get through the record heat first. 

Get ready to bundle up

A powerful cold front is trying to loosen summer’s hold on the Central Plains and Eastern U.S., and it will largely succeed. 

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It will take its time as it moves across the country, but get ready to see some temperatures take a tumble by the weekend. Highs in the South will go from the 80s and 90s to the 60s and 70s. 

The Northeast and Great Lakes will see temperatures drop to the 50s and 60s, with some scattered highs in the 40s. 

Cool, crisp mornings

When you leave for work in the morning after this cold front comes, you may have to scrape some frost off your windshield. Morning lows will plunge from the 60s and 70s to the 30s and 40s. Get those jackets out because it may come as quite a shock to feel these temperatures.

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How long will it last? 

Not long. Consider this a false fall that will give us a temporary break in the heat, but it will be back. A ridge of high pressure will set up across the Eastern U.S. beginning next week, so warmth will begin to build back in, first in the center of the country and eventually farther east. It doesn’t look like this warmth will reach summer levels at this point, but expect some above-average temperatures. 

Let’s get through the record heat first

All this talk of fall coming is fantastic, but first, we have to get through summer’s potential final stand. Record highs and lows stretch all across the Central and Eastern U.S., with temperatures running about 20 degrees above average. 

If you like summer, get outside before the cold comes. If you hate summer, wait a couple of days for that sweet relief. 

Rob Shackelford is a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.