Weekend forecast offers chilly preview

The start of winter may still be weeks away but it's going to feel much closer tonight when temperatures drop to near 30 and Eastern Iowa gets its first real possibility of a frost for the year.

Sure, it's just one night, but it's going to be a cold one. You have a few hours - here's a few things you can do to get ready:

* Get the comforters out. It may be too early to turn the furnace on just yet, but it could get a little chilly if you're still sleeping with the windows open. Or even if you're not.

* Got gloves? Wear ‘em. There are still plenty of outdoor events taking place at night - the Hawkeyes even have a 7:05 p.m. kickoff tonight - but it might get a little cool for bare fingers. A hat and a fall jacket could be a good idea, too.

* Cover those tomatoes and peppers. There's still time for your green tomatoes to ripen, says Sharon Bowers, assistant greenhouse manager at Peck's Landscaping in Cedar Rapids, but they should be protected from the frost. She suggests putting fabric and not plastic on them for cover overnight.

* Household plants outside should be brought inside, at least for the night. Bowers says these plants should be inside when the outdoor and indoor temperatures are the same, but most definitely should come in for the frost. “They're tropical plants,” she said. “They aren't hardy enough for Iowa's winter.”

* Consider the frost as an early warning system: start thinking about plastic or caulk for the windows, antifreeze for the car and new filters for the furnace. Temperatures will warm back into the 70s next week, but they won't stick around forever.

* Want a bright side? Colder weather and shorter days mean less sunshine for the leaves, causing their green color to drain away and leave the bright oranges, yellows and reds in their wake.