Cold Stuns South; Snowstorm on Path to Nova Scotia

A cold wave that stunned the Deep South broke low temperature records all across Florida on Saturday, and an elderly woman froze to death in an unheated home in the northern part of the Sunshine State.

Farther north, a powerful storm that dumped as much as two feet of snow on the middle Atlantic states on Friday buffeted the New England coast with winds up to 52 m.p.h. and snow while moving away toward Nova Scotia.

The arctic air that poured into Florida sent the mercury plunging from the Panhandle all the way to Key West, the southernmost point on the continental United States.

Florida’s rich citrus growing region reported minor crop damage after the second night of record cold.

Cold Expected to Ease

But the cold snap was expected to ease slightly, and the trend was to warmer temperatures by tonight, National Weather Service forecaster Fred Gonzalez said.

Florida’s lowest temperature overnight was a record 18 degrees in the northern part of the state at Tallahassee, the capital.

Other records for the day in the state were 28 at Apalachicola, 29 at Daytona Beach, 35 at Ft. Lauderdale, 35 at Ft. Myers, 36 at Hollywood, 24 at Jacksonville, 51 at Key West, 37 at Miami, 39 at Miami Beach, 30 at Orlando, 27 at Pensacola, 31 at Tampa and 35 at West Palm Beach. In neighboring Alabama, Mobile tied its record of 27 and Montgomery tied its record of 22.

Just outside Florida’s capital, in Miccosukee, police said a 65-year-old woman froze to death in her unheated home. She was discovered unconscious by a neighbor and paramedics could not revive her.

‘Rare Occurrence’

“This is an extremely rare occurrence in Leon County,” sheriff’s spokesman Dick Simpson said. The death prompted deputies to visit other unheated homes to check on residents, he said.

In other cities around Florida, shelters filled up with homeless people who usually sleep on the streets in more hospitable weather.

But while Florida shivered, Dodge City, Kan., posted a record high Saturday of 80 degrees.

The National Weather Service said snow was falling along the northern New England coast as the two-day wintry blast moved toward Nova Scotia. Strong winds buffeted the shoreline with gusts of 52 m.p.h., pounding Chatham, Mass., the weather service said.

Snow Blankets Boston

As much as 12 inches of snow fell over Cape Cod, and areas south of Boston reported accumulations from five to eight inches. Three to six inches of snow were reported across southeast New Hampshire.

An afternoon winter storm warning was in effect for the southeast coast of Maine, where four to eight inches of snow had fallen.