Cold Front Brings Frost to the East, Storm to the West and Rain to Texas This Weekend

If it feels like the country is split in two, you’re not far off. A cold front is moving down the East and bringing the first freezes all the way to the Deep South, including northern Florida. Meanwhile, a Pacific storm is hitting California and the Northwest with rain, wind and snow. And on Sunday, November 15, it’s Texas’s turn, with rain and possible thunderstorms. Let’s break it down so you know what to expect where you live.

What’s Happening in the East and Northeast?

According to Weather.com, a coastal nor’easter brings rain this Friday, November 13, to the I-95 corridor: southern New England and the New York and New Jersey area. With it comes the first accumulating snow of the season in high inland areas: the Green and White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, the Berkshires, the Adirondacks and the Catskills. Snow is also expected in the Appalachians, from West Virginia to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, and in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The same source reports that on Thursday, November 12, the storm brought damaging winds, hail and even a tornado near Wilmington, Delaware. Gusts of up to 30 mph are expected this Friday, but Weather.com does not consider it a high-impact storm.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Prediction Center (WPC) adds that cold flow over the Great Lakes is keeping lake-effect rain and snow going through Saturday, November 14. Ryan Hall, in his November 12 forecast, talks about more than 12 inches in spots of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. And what you’ll notice most: according to Weather.com, highs are stuck in the 40s °F across much of the Midwest and Northeast from Friday through Sunday, and the cold would linger in the East until early next week.

Do the first flakes sound familiar? We already told you about the first flakes of the season in an earlier story.

What About the Freezes in the South and in Florida?

This is the part that surprises the most. According to USA Today, citing AccuWeather and the FOX Forecast Center, the cold air could bring the first hard freeze of the season to parts of the Midwest, the Ohio Valley and the South starting the night of November 13. About 230 million people would feel below-normal temperatures, although records are not expected to be broken.

Weather.com notes that this weekend could bring the first freeze of the season to much of the Carolinas, northern and central Georgia, and northern and central Alabama. There are frost and freeze alerts in parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and northern Georgia through Saturday morning, with lows of 28 to 32 °F. The WPC also mentioned freeze and frost advisories in eastern Oklahoma and northern Arkansas, and freeze watches in the interior of the Gulf states. By Sunday morning, the risk of freeze or frost extends to parts of the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic.

In Florida, according to Jacksonville.com (USA Today Network), citing AccuWeather and NWS offices, the front crossed the northern part of the state Thursday night, central Florida early Friday, and would clear the south Friday afternoon. It is the coldest air of the season. The NWS in Mobile forecasts lows in the lower to mid 30s °F in the Panhandle Friday and Saturday nights. The NWS in Tampa Bay estimates about 10 degrees below normal, with possible lows in the upper 30s °F in parts of the Nature Coast. The NWS in Melbourne gives a 10% to 15% chance of feels-like temperatures in the upper 30s °F from Orlando northward Saturday morning.

If you live in the Southeast, these freezes come after the ones earlier this week: here we review what happened.

What’s in Store for California and the Northwest?

According to the WPC, a deep trough in the West is bringing a front with rain on the Pacific coast and snow at higher elevations. Moderate to heavy rain is expected in Washington, Oregon and northern California, with possible thunderstorms. There are high wind watches and wind advisories this Friday in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. In addition, the WPC reported winter storm warnings in parts of the Sierra Nevada and coastal flood advisories in parts of the San Francisco area. Snow in the Sierra would continue through Saturday, and that day there is a chance of localized flooding in northwestern Washington.

Ryan Hall mentions possible gusts near 66 mph around Reno and about 48 mph in San Francisco. He also warns that in the northern Sierra, snow could fall at 1 to 3 inches per hour, with blizzard conditions in the mountain passes. If you’re planning to travel there, check road conditions first.

And this won’t end soon: the WPC sees more Pacific storms next week, with snow in the Cascades and the Sierra and rain reaching California on Tuesday, November 17, and especially Wednesday, November 18. If you want to understand these systems, we have a story about atmospheric rivers in the Northwest.

And Texas? Sunday Turns Wet

According to the WPC, a system coming from Baja California brings showers and thunderstorms to southwestern and western Texas, with more rain Saturday in the southern High Plains and in Texas. On Sunday, November 15, rain would be moderate to locally heavy in eastern Texas and Louisiana, and highs would stay in the 50s °F in parts of Texas, more typical of January. Ryan Hall talks about possible thunderstorms Sunday in southern and central Texas toward the lower coast, with isolated damaging gusts, but he makes clear he has low confidence in that forecast. It’s worth keeping an eye on updates.

Here’s What the Weekend Looks Like in Your City

These are NWS forecasts (api.weather.gov), checked on the morning of Friday, November 13. Figures are high/low in °F:

Miami: Friday 81, partly sunny; night 64; Saturday 72, sunny; Sunday 78.
Orlando: Friday 73; night 46; Saturday 64 (night 48); Sunday 73.
Houston: Friday 72; Saturday 65; Sunday 65 with rain and thunderstorms at night.
San Antonio: Friday 77; Saturday 71 with rain starting in the afternoon; Sunday 70 with showers and thunderstorms.
Dallas: Friday 69; Saturday 65, thunderstorms at night (low 47); Sunday 52 with rain.
Los Angeles: Friday 72 with showers and thunderstorms, rain at night; Saturday 72, sunny; Sunday 73.
San Francisco: Friday 63 with showers and thunderstorms; Saturday 64; Sunday 64 with light rain.
Phoenix: Friday 77, likely rain; Saturday 73; Sunday 75, sunny.
New York: Friday 49 with light rain; night 36; Saturday 48 and Sunday 49, mostly sunny.
Chicago: Friday 41 with rain and snow; night 36; Saturday 46 (night 34); Sunday 48, sunny.
Atlanta: Friday 54; night 36; Saturday 54 with early frost and a night of 32 with widespread frost; Sunday 57.
Denver: Friday 64; Saturday 55 with possible light rain; Sunday 56.

What Should I Do About All This?

These are general tips, not quotes from the forecasts:

Dress in layers. A T-shirt, something warm on top and a windbreaker or raincoat let you adjust as the day goes on. In Atlanta, for example, there is almost a 20-degree difference between Friday’s high and the night’s low.
Protect your plants. Weather.com advises bringing potted plants indoors. If you have a garden in a freeze zone, covering the most delicate plants at night can help.
Think about your pets. If you’re going to spend the night in the 30s °F, the safest approach is to have them sleep indoors and keep walks short.
Safe heating. Never use your kitchen stove or a generator inside your home to heat it: they can produce carbon monoxide. Use only equipment designed for that purpose and, if you have questions, ask your utility company.
Roads. If you’re crossing mountains with snow or wind, or if Texas is your stop on Sunday, leave early and check road conditions first.

Your Forecast, the One That Really Counts

What you read here is the big picture, but the weather changes from one neighborhood to the next. Enter your ZIP code at weather.gov to see the NWS forecast for your area and current alerts. And if you want to follow the thread of this fall, review the stories above on the freezes, the first flakes and atmospheric rivers. Which of these systems is headed your way? Think about it before the weekend.

Sources: NWS Weather Prediction Center: short-range discussion; NWS Weather Prediction Center: extended discussion; National Weather Service, city forecasts; Weather.com; USA Today; Jacksonville.com; Ryan Hall, Y'all. Data accessed November 13, 2026.