Blizzard Slams Into East Coast as South Shivers in Record Cold

A blizzard battered the East Coast with wind and snow Friday, lashing the sea into 30-foot waves, and the Deep South shivered with unaccustomed temperatures in the teens that iced highways and froze early spring blossoms.

Temperatures dropped to record lows for the date in 35 cities from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico as arctic air surged south. Miami posted a record low of 37, equaling the temperature Friday in Minot, N.D.

Slippery roads were blamed for hundreds of accidents, and schools were closed from Georgia to New Jersey. Three weather-related deaths were reported.

“All the roads are covered; we’ve got ice, and people are wrecking right and left,” said Officer Dennis Anders of the Alleghany County, N.C., Sheriff’s Department.

The storm dumped 12 inches of snow in southeastern Virginia, and winds gusted to 60 m.p.h., said Terry Ritter, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Norfolk. He said it was the region’s first storm classified as a blizzard since 1980.

The winds generated waves up to 12 feet on Chesapeake Bay, and 30-foot waves were reported on the Atlantic Ocean, Coast Guard officials said.

The Navy cut back on all but essential services and delayed the departure of seven Norfolk-based ships that had been scheduled to sail Friday.

“The problem is visibility. There is none,” said Lt. Cmdr. Steve Burnett, a spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet.

The snowstorm formed as a low pressure system off the coast of the Carolinas. The storm center, spinning counterclockwise, raked its wind across the coast out of the northeast, earning it the label of a “nor’easter.”

Winds gusted to 59 m.p.h. near Cape Hatteras, N.C., and the state shut down six of the seven ferries it operates along the coast.

Blizzard conditions were reported along the Outer Banks islands and in North Carolina’s Gates and Hertford counties, where 18 inches of snow and drifts to 3 feet were reported, weather service officials said.

Roads through North Carolina were covered with snow; up to 11 inches fell in parts of eastern Virginia, and drifts 4 feet high were reported in Delaware.

Temperatures fell into the teens across parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia--just a week after record highs in the 70s and 80s brought peach trees and daffodils into premature bloom.

Record lows Friday included 16 degrees in Birmingham, Ala.; 19 in Mobile, Ala.; 23 in Baton Rouge, La., and 28 at New Orleans. Atlanta tied its record of 17. Grand Rapids, Mich., hit a record 9 below zero.

Shelters in Birmingham opened for people needing a warm place for the night. “Anyone can come is as long as they don’t cause problems,” police community service officer Alton Morgado said.

The cold was especially noticeable to tourists.

“It’s probably warmer in New York,” Kristin Horne, 28, said in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “I didn’t bring any warm clothes to Florida. We couldn’t even go to the beach today.”

The cold also threatened some crops in the South.

At Plant City in central Florida, where a strawberry festival is planned to open March 2, farmers worked to shield their plants.

“You know how your stomach feels when you think you could lose everything you worked for? That’s the feeling we’re getting now,” said Tommy Brock, whose fields are east of Plant City.

Peach growers in Alabama burned tires and coal in orchards during the night to protect trees against the cold, but there were scattered reports of damage.