women the recognition they deserve announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening in a year defined by some of the most extreme heat we ve ever seen, along with one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the u.s. mainland, tonight making headlines for unseasonable cold and early snow in the east, autumn interrupted by a sudden and dramatic detour into winter a climate change whiplash leaving 86 million people currently under freeze alerts from the northern tip of texas across the south and up into the northeast. more than 40 record lows possible this evening across 18 states several cities in the south could see their earliest freezes on record al roker will lay it out for us in a moment but first let s go to maggie vespa, feeling the big chill in michigan. reporter: less than a month into fall, a frigid blast blanketing swaths of the midwest in white. did you have to dig out the winter coat? we did. we went for a walk tonight and got them on repo