Record Lows in South Put Frosty Chill on College Students, Peaches

A spring cold snap on Saturday iced the South for a second day in a row, pushing frost all the way into the Gulf states and setting record lows in nearly two dozen cities.

Overnight lows across the eastern half of the nation ranged from near zero in New England to the 30s in Georgia and the 50s in southern Florida.

Frost stretched all the way from central Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle to the North Carolina coast.

In the Gulf of Mexico, the temperature in Mobile, Ala., fell to an overnight low of 27 degrees, 4 degrees below the old record for the date set in 1983. Baton Rouge, La., hit a record low of 29, also 4 degrees off the old mark. Miami Beach, Fla., dipped to a record low of 50.

In the heart of the Appalachians, Elkins, W.Va., posted a record 6 degrees.

College students hoping to celebrate spring break huddled against the cold at Daytona Beach, Fla., using beach towels as shawls and skirts, as stiff winds whistled in off the Atlantic, and temperatures barely climbed above 60 degrees.

The cold damaged fruit crops in some areas of the Florida Panhandle, the National Weather Service said.

“We’ve got a lot of dead peaches, but we just don’t know how many,” said Kimble Carter, a peach grower in Clanton, Ala.