Cold front to bring drastically cooler temperatures to Texas this week. How cold will it get?

Get ready for the coldest temperatures of the season so far as a surge of cold air with below-average temperatures moves across Texas during the middle of the week.

A cold front moved across the state Monday morning and early afternoon, bringing with it much-needed rain to parts of the state. While that front didn't drop temperatures by all that much, a second one is expected to sweep across the state starting Tuesday. This second front isn't expected to be accompanied by any precipitation, but it will drastically drop temperatures by up to 30 degrees in some regions.

Lows in the 20s in the Texas Panhandle The cold front will hit first in the Texas Panhandle on Tuesday afternoon. While this will bring breezy conditions during the day, the bigger story will be the colder temperatures Tuesday night.

"Nearly all areas are expected to dip down into the 20s with wind chills in the teens," forecasters at the National Weather Service office in Amarillo wrote in an update . "It's likely these will be the coldest temperatures the area has experienced yet this season!"

The lows on Thursday and Friday in the Texas Panhandle will remain at or just above freezing, while areas in the northwest corner of the state could see lows in the upper 20s.

Lows in the 30s and 40s across North Texas In North Texas, winds will gradually become more northerly as the cold front spills south through the North Central Plains Tuesday night. Overnight lows will drop into the upper 30s to mid 40s across the region with wind chills near freezing early Wednesday morning, forecasters at the NWS office in Fort Worth said in an update .

It will be a similar situation Wednesday night into Thursday, when temperatures could dip even lower. A few outlying spots may approach freezing by Thursday morning, forecasters noted.

Frost likely in parts of Central Texas In Central Texas, the cold front won't be felt as strongly on Tuesday into Wednesday. Under clear skies, light winds and low relative humidity values, expect temperatures to drop to the lower 40s across the Hill Country and 50s elsewhere.

But as the winds back off Wednesday night, there's a potential for frost in the Hill Country Thursday morning along with very patchy freezes.

"Low temperatures Thursday morning will likely be the lowest of the season," forecasters at the NWS office in San Antonio wrote in an update . While model solutions don't include any freezing temperatures, forecasters said temperatures in some of the usual cool spots might dip to that level.

Temperatures in Austin are expected to bottom out around 40, but the area surrounding the city, including the Hill Country, should see 30s.

The story will be similar in San Antonio, with the forecast calling for a low of 45 Wednesday night into Thursday.

Cooler lows, below normal temperatures in East Texas The temperature story will be similar in East Texas. The cooler airmass will filter through the region on Wednesday, forecasters at the NWS office in Houston wrote in an update .

Residents in that part of the state can expect lows in the 40s Wednesday night into Thursday, with maybe a few 30s in the Piney Woods, forecasters noted.

"This will probably be the first time in over a month that many of us will see the average daily temperature below normal," forecasters wrote.