Temperatures Drop to Record Lows in Rockies, Across North

Ice and snow downed power lines, closed schools and turned highways into skating rinks today deep into the heart of the Sun Belt, while temperatures plummeted to record lows in the Rockies and across the North.

Today’s low of 61 degrees below zero at Maybell in northwestern Colorado was the coldest on record anywhere in that state, one degree below the previous record set in 1951 and tied in 1979.

The deep freeze over Colorado was complicated by a transformer fire this morning that blacked out the southeastern quarter of Denver while the temperature was 11 below zero. The warmest place in the state early today was Grand Junction with 5 below zero.

At least 10 other low-temperature records fell elsewhere in the nation today, with all-time lows of minus 38 at Idaho Falls, Ida., and minus 27 at Pocatello, Ida. The traditional “nation’s icebox” of International Falls, Minn., on the Canadian border, had a bitter record for the date at 40 below. Other records were posted in Illinois, Wisconsin, Utah and Michigan.

Ice up to an inch thick was reported in central Mississippi, with 2 to 5 inches of ice and snow covering northern Mississippi and Alabama. The ice snapped tree limbs and downed power lines and made travel hazardous.

Mississippi Gov. Bill Allain ordered state offices closed until Monday, and the Legislature met only briefly before adjourning for the weekend.

Immense Bulge of Cold Air

At least eight deaths in five states since Wednesday have been blamed on the storm, caused by an immense bulge of cold air pushing southward with rain, snow and sleet.

The National Weather Service posted travelers’ advisories and storm warnings from southern New Mexico across Texas, Arkansas, much of Louisiana and Mississippi to Maryland, and warned that on Saturday the snow will extend to the northern Atlantic coast.

The invasion of cold air into the South follows a frigid blast that hit Mississippi two weeks ago and went on to devastate citrus crops in Florida.

“This is going to be worse in a different way,” said Terry Getz, a National Weather Service specialist in Mississippi. He said this storm is being fed by warm, moist air that could bring more precipitation.

“All the roads in Kentucky are snow-covered, slick and hazardous,” said State Police dispatcher Ruth Ann Unker at the agency’s Frankfort headquarters.

Snow hit western Kentucky at midday Thursday, and by daybreak today 10 to 11 inches was reported on the ground at the small communities of Cobb and Canton, said weather service spokeswoman Barbara Thomas.

Businesses closed early or did not open at all in some Kentucky communities. More than 50 county school systems in Kentucky and the University of Louisville canceled classes, and Morehead State University closed at midmorning. Also closed were the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University.

Public schools were closed in Tennessee, West Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado, western Washington and Oregon.