Freeze Spreads as Far South as Florida

Arctic air poured into the northern Plains and upper Great Lakes Monday, driving wind chills to 50 below zero, while unseasonably cold weather in the East spread freezing temperatures as far south as Florida.

Temperatures were below zero from upper Michigan to eastern North Dakota. Gusty west winds made it feel even colder with wind chills of 40 to 50 below zero stinging Grand Forks, N.D., and Duluth, Minn.

Record low temperatures were set in Marquette, Mich., where it was 14 below; Boise, Ida., 2 below, and Tallahassee, Fla., 19 above.

Tow Trucks Busy

Tow truck operators in Marquette were swamped with calls from stranded motorists.

Steve Haile of Mr. Wrecker service in Marquette said that Monday morning was “just crazy with calls. Our trucks haven’t stopped since 6 this morning.” He estimated they received about 30 calls from people trying to get to work whose cars wouldn’t start or whose gas lines froze up along the way.

“This is way more calls than we usually get, even in the bad part of the winter,” Haile said. “At least it’s sunny, but the wind chill made it really tough on the guys out there trying to jump-start cars.”

A dispatcher at the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department said no serious weather-related problems were reported.

“We’re tough up here,” she said. “It was cold but we don’t pay much attention until it gets down to about 30-below.”

Low Readings in Florida

Unseasonably cold temperatures dominated the eastern half of the nation. Lows were in the teens and 20s over much of the region with readings in the lower 30s as far south as northern Florida.

“What we have is a large area of high pressure that moved down into the Southeast and is pretty well entrenched,” said Paul Fike of the National Weather Service in Kansas City.

Snow continued Monday afternoon over parts of the lower Great Lakes. A travelers’ advisory was posted for the counties east of Lake Ontario in New York state. Snow was also scattered over parts of the northern Appalachians, the western Great Lakes and portions of the northern Plains.

Duluth, Minn., received two inches of snow in six hours Monday morning.

Snow squalls along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York Monday were being blamed for at least two deaths.

In Oneida County, a 6-year-old boy died Sunday when he slipped and fell into an icy creek behind his home, while a man who may have slipped on ice was found dead on a street in the Livingston County community of Lima.

Tom Niziol, a forecaster with the weather service in Buffalo, said that the squalls were fueled by cold air traveling over the warmer waters of the lake.