Lows drop to single digits as cold invades the Deep South

ATLANTA (AP) — Temperatures plummeted overnight to 3 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.

Warming shelters were open across the South as freeze watches and warnings blanketed the region, including hard freeze warnings for much of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Georgia saw one of its coldest temperatures of the winter: 3 degrees shortly before dawn at a U.S. Forest Service weather station in Union County, Georgia.