OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Even if you knew Thursday’s morning temperature was going to be in the 40s, it was still a rude awakening for some.

Around 8:15 a.m. Thursday, a check of the National Weather Service (NWS) offices that serve the 352 indicate the mercury registered temps below 50 degrees with a six-degree swing across north-central Florida. Here’s a look at those temps as reported by the NWS.

Cross City: 43 degrees
Crystal River: 45 degrees
Gainesville: 43 degrees
Inverness: 46 degrees
Ocala: 46 degrees
The Villages: 49 degrees

The city of Gainesville activated its Cold Night Shelter program overnight in anticipation of the cold snap which gets triggered when the forecast calls for temps below 45 degrees.

Hopefully, you were prepared with a polar fleece and the heat in your car was in working order. But don’t fret, temps won’t be this cold for the remainder of the week or weekend. Low temps will be in the mid to upper 50s for the next several days.

Let us know how you felt about the morning mercury. Head over to our Facebook page and post your comments. We’d love to hear from you.

In case you were wondering, we checked… the NWS says it’s 16 degrees in Fairbanks, Alaska, at the time of this writing.

Ocala Forecast
Here’s the day-by-day outlook from the NWS:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 74. Breezy, with a northeast wind 7 to 15 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. North wind 3 to 6 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Northeast wind 7 to 13 mph.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 60. North wind around 8 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Breezy, with a north wind 8 to 15 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 57.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 84.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 85.

Get your 352 weather info here anytime you need it.