Southern Farmers Dread Latest Weather Treat: Peach Freeze

Southern farmers nervously looked for signs Wednesday that a late freeze had damaged orchards where trees were already flowering, while tens of thousands remained without power in the snowy Midwest.

Temperatures dropped below freezing as far south as the Gulf Coast, and several more cold nights were forecast.

Peach growers may have to wait until next week before they can determine the full extent of damage to fragile buds that were coaxed into early bloom by a mild, wet winter.

They need warmer weather to cut into the blooms to see if the tiny fruit buds inside have turned black.

Eldon Zehar said he already knows that the frost destroyed 90% of the blossoms on his six acres of peach trees near Clemson, S.C. But he said his trees still have many unopened buds.

Peach blossoms begin to die when the temperature drops to 28 degrees, said Dale Linvill, an agricultural meteorologist at Clemson University.

The storm system that put an end to the South’s balmy weather also produced flooding in the Southeast and a weekend blizzard across the Plains and Midwest.

Indiana state police on Wednesday closed the northbound lanes of Interstate 65 at Rensselaer because blowing snow cut visibility.

About 70,000 customers were still without power in northern Illinois and Indiana. More snow fell on northwest Indiana, backing up traffic for miles on major highways. Areas within a few miles of Lake Michigan were preparing for up to 6 inches of snow.

Wednesday’s low temperatures in the Southeast included daily records of 28 at Mobile, Ala.; 24 at Meridian, Miss.; 47 at Miami Beach; 25 at Montgomery, Ala.; and 19 at Nashville. Louisville, Ky., tied a 64-year-old record with a low of 16.

Still, they paled in comparison with North Dakota, where Williston hit a record 28 below.