Snow Buries East in ‘Worst Day’ of Winter : Storm: Cold forces schools to close in parts of 6 states. South’s peach crop is threatened as record lows are broken.

Heavy snow fell over the central Appalachians and around the lower Great Lakes on Wednesday as a cold front pushed eastward, and falling temperatures in the South threatened peach crops.

Snow and cold temperatures prompted authorities to close schools in parts of New York state, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia and Georgia.

Almost two feet of snow fell in Allegany, N.Y., along the Pennsylvania state line, and the National Weather Service reported that heavy snow was expected to continue falling in areas of western New York.

“This is about the worst day we’ve had all winter,” said Lori Jones, a state police dispatcher in Allegany. “I’d rather be home.”

The Genesee River Valley southwest of Rochester, N.Y., received more than a foot of snow, and up to 18 inches had fallen in the Java-Arcade area.

The Rochester and Buffalo airports shut down briefly while workers plowed the runways. Parts of Interstate 490 near Rochester were closed because of blowing snow.

The cold front dumped 16 inches of snow in western Pennsylvania’s Clearfield County, the weather service reported, while 14 inches fell at Bradford near the New York state line.

Pennsylvania State Police briefly closed U.S. 22 between Altoona and Ebensburg, a four-lane highway that links central Pennsylvania with Pittsburgh. Interstate 80 was reduced to one lane through western Pennsylvania.

Temperatures fell into the teens and single digits from the middle and upper Mississippi Valley across the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes region, and subzero readings were reported in northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.

Jackson, Ky., had a record low of 19 degrees; Harrison, Ark., hit a record low of 21, and Paducah, Ky., reported a record of 20. Calico Rock, Ark., tied its record of 18.

In Georgia and Alabama, snow flurries and a cold blast of air threatened to damage the peach crop. Trees and flowers that had blossomed early because of unseasonably warm weather earlier were in particular danger, horticulturists said.

Growers in northeastern Mississippi were told to expect severe damage from Wednesday morning’s freeze, but the full extent of the loss may not be known for days, a state Cooperative Extension expert warned.

“We are talking primarily about peaches in bloom in the Tupelo area and to the north,” fruit specialist Freddie Rasberry said.

He said that based on preliminary weather data it appeared the cold damaged from 75% to 80% of the peach crop in the Tupelo area and northward, where temperatures had dipped into the 20s by daybreak Wednesday.

Arkansas peach growers also were concerned by overnight temperatures ranging from 20 in the northwest to the mid-30s in the south.

“I don’t think I’m completely wiped out. I sure hope so anyway,” said C. W. Atkins of Atkins Orchards, south of Little Rock, Ark.

In North Carolina, a tornado destroyed nine houses and damaged more than two dozen others Tuesday night in the Steele Creek area, about a mile southwest of the Charlotte city limits, a Mecklenburg County police sergeant said.

Possible tornadoes were sighted or detected on radar in several other North Carolina counties, the weather service and police said.