Some Iowans had to get up during the night, shut the windows and throw a quilt on the bed. After a sunny, warm Tuesday, temperatures plummeted overnight to near-freezing in many parts of Iowa. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says several Iowa cities were just a shade away from the freezing mark of 32-degrees.

"The lowest official temperatures we had in the state today were some 34-degree readings, "Hillaker says, "that came from Estherville, Mason City and Cresco, but mid- to upper-30s were very common over the northeast two-thirds of the state."

Frost warnings were posted overnight for parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, but not Iowa. No records were set in Iowa overnight, but Hillaker says several cities came very close. Hillaker says: "Cedar Rapids, for example, with 38-degrees at the airport, just two-degrees from their record low for September 12th. Waterloo missed their record by just four-degrees and Dubuque by three-degrees."

Hillaker says it’s unseasonable, but Iowa’s no stranger to early frosts, much earlier than now, in fact. He says the earliest recorded frost in Iowa was reported on August 14th, 1964 in the Howard County town of Saratoga. He says the last time Iowa had a freeze in August was also in Saratoga in 1967.

Hillaker says the forecast calls for cool temperatures again this weekend, while much of Iowa may see warmer-than-normal temps next week.