A powerful winter weather system — including an intense low-pressure "bomb cyclone" along the East Coast — is affecting a large swath of the country and driving extremely cold air deep into the Southeast.
Temperatures in southern Florida fell into the 20s on Sunday morning — it's the coldest it's been since 1989, according to the National Weather Service. A statement on the agency's website warned of freezing temperatures and "bitterly cold air" surging down the Florida Peninsula.
"All of our climate sites set new record lows for the date this morning," read a social media statement from the NWS office in Melbourne, Fla., "and most even set new monthly record lows for February!"
Though not unusually cold for much of the country, Florida isn't well-equipped for such temperatures, said Brian McNoldy, who studies cyclones at the University of Miami. " It's just something that people aren't used to," he said, "I mean, not every house even has heat, a lot of people don't have heavy coats."