NATCHEZ — The first frost for the region is expected to be a hard freeze Wednesday morning, a National Weather Service spokesperson in Jackson said.

A passing cold front is expected to drop temperatures to near-record lows early this week.

Meteorologist John Moore III of the National Weather Service in Jackson said a large arctic air mass is forecast to settle over the area Tuesday, dropping temperatures to the mid-to-low 20s.

“A strong cold front will be moving in Monday,” Moore said. “High temperatures will struggle to reach 40 degrees on Tuesday. The wind will make the temperature feel like it is in the 20s or 30s.”

Wednesday morning, residents will wake up to temperatures near 25 degrees.

Temperature records show the record low for the area on Nov. 14 is 27 degrees set in 1940. The next day on Nov. 15, 1940 the temperature dropped to 19 degrees, also a record low for that day.

The average low temperature for Natchez in November is 45 degrees.

The record low temperature for Natchez in November is 18 degrees, set in 1938.

Moore said temperatures will warm up to 46 or 47 degrees, but then fall back to the upper 20s by Thursday morning.

Temperatures will then gradually warm up with lows above the freezing mark on Friday morning.