A sprawling cold front is about to end a stretch of record October warmth across a huge swath of the country over the next 48 hours, from the Southern Plains to the Tennessee Valley, and temperatures are about to plummet. 

Afternoon highs that have felt like summer, in the 80s and 90s, are set to fall by 20 degrees or more in a single day for millions.

Get ready for a wild temperature roller coaster.

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Who will see the biggest drops?

Areas from Dallas to Nashville will experience the biggest swings, with temperatures dropping as much as 15 to more than 25 degrees cooler in 24 hours. 

Little Rock might have the steepest fall of all. The forecast high on Thursday is 93, then will drop 27 degrees in 24 hours, to a high of only 66 degrees on Friday. 

St. Louis is waiting in line for a similar ride. They will see a high of 78 degrees on Thursday, and drop 23 degrees to a high of 55 on Friday. 

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Places like Nashville and Memphis will both drop more than 20 degrees in 24 hours, going from the 90s on Thursday to just 70 degrees 24 hours later. 

Even as far South as Texas and Oklahoma will feel the coaster drop. Dallas goes from a high of 89 on Thursday to a high of 65 on Friday. Oklahoma City tops out at 73 degrees on Thursday, then only 58 degrees on Friday.

If you are in this part of the country, enjoy “false fall” while it lasts, because you will be back in the 70s and 80s early next week. 

East drops this weekend

Some of the biggest temperature drops will occur between Friday and Saturday, when the cold front makes it to the Eastern Seaboard. 

Washington, D.C., will see a drop of nearly 30 degrees, going from a high of 81 on Friday to a high of only 56 on Saturday, a drop of 25 degrees. New York City will drop nearly 20 degrees, going from a high of 75 degrees on Friday to a high of only 56 on Saturday. There will also be 15 to 20 mph winds behind the front on Saturday, so that high of 56 is going to feel close to the 40s in the Big Apple when you factor in the wind chill.

Even Atlanta gets a thrill. Thursday’s forecast high climbs to 85 degrees, then drops to 66 on Saturday, an 19 degree drop. 

Who will be turning on the heater for the first time this season?

While some of these overnight lows might not seem too wild on paper, they may come as a shock to the system, considering they will be the coldest of the season – and for some, by a long shot.

The mid-South will not only see the biggest drop in highs, but also overnight lows. 

Nashville and Memphis will both drop by nearly 20 degrees between Thursday morning and Friday morning, going from lows in the mid 60s to lows in the mid 40s to start the weekend. 

Atlanta even goes from a low of 64 degrees Thursday morning to lows in the upper 40s Friday morning. By Saturday morning, temperatures will hover around 45 degrees.

Across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, morning changes will be just as noticeable. 

New York City has a forecast low of 56 on Thursday morning and will drop nearly 20 degrees to 38 by Saturday morning.

Washington faces a similar scenario, with lows in the upper 50s on Friday morning, then drops to the 30s on Saturday morning. 

Whether you welcome the change or dread it, hopefully you will find ways to embrace the change in seasons this weekend, because for most of us, we will be back to warmer weather next week.