By MINDY KEPFIELD

Staff writer

A cold front dropped in from Canada brought summer in the county to an abrupt end with record chilly temperatures expected as its students start school.

“It’s a shock to the system,” said Thomas Vaughan, forecaster with the National Weather Service in Wichita. “There were record highs and it took a 180-degree turn from there.”

The county will get its first taste of fall today with a possible record for chilly temperatures in the 50s.

“We are in September now,” Vaughan said. “A front can bring much colder air, but temperatures this low are pretty unusual.”

The rest of the week promises to be just as cold with highs in the 60s not expected until Friday and a chance of rain every day until Thursday.

The rest of this week until Friday afternoon, Marion County could get anywhere from 1½ to 2 inches of rain, Vaughan said.

But winter is not here just yet.

This weekend promises to be much better with sunshine and highs back in the seasonable 70s.

“It looks like Sunday is going to be a really nice day and that holds out until the beginning of the work week,” he said.