Temperatures soared to record-setting levels in many locations throughout the Plains over the weekend. Today, highs will take a nosedive in the same areas.

The big cooldown began in the northern Rockies on Sunday as a storm system swept through. Today, the same storm will usher cooler air southward across the nation’s midsection.

The arrival of the chilly air sparked violent thunderstorms on the Plains over the weekend and will continue to do so today from the central Gulf Coast through the Tennessee and Ohio valleys.

On Sunday, thermometers reached or surpassed the 90-degree mark in St. Louis, Mo., Wichita, Kan., Oklahoma City, Okla., Lubbock, Texas and Roswell, N.M., and even hit the century mark in spots, including in Laredo, Texas. The summerlike afternoon highs shattered records at dozens of cities and towns.

Today will be significantly cooler on the central Plains by around 20 to 30 degrees in spots, warming only into the 50s as far south as Oklahoma and northern New Mexico.

Despite backing off by a few degrees today, the warmth will hang on in southern Texas. However, the unusually warm air that had engulfed the region has shifted its focus onto the Southeast, where temperatures will be more akin to June than April today.