Cold Front Brings Winter Weather a Day Early

The first cold wave of the season brought an early white Christmas to much of the East on Monday and kept winter-haven states like Florida in an icy grip. In the West, wind gusts up to 98 mph raked Colorado.

The arctic weather was blamed for one death in Michigan and two traffic deaths in New Jersey.

In Warwick, R.I., an American Airlines flight skidded off an icy runway connector as it prepared for takeoff from T.F. Green Airport; no one was injured.

The severe wind in Colorado forced skiers off the slopes in Breckenridge, closed highways and peeled the roof off a high school gym while a basketball team practiced. No serious injuries were reported.

Temperatures from Michigan to Pennsylvania ranged from the teens to below zero, while the Gulf Coast states recorded temperatures in the 20s and 30s as a cold front pushed East and arctic air rushed in behind.

“We feel like we’re at the ski slopes instead of Disney World,” said Amy Dawkins, 31, an attorney from Rockingham, N.C., visiting Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Temperatures dropped to near or below freezing in north Florida and into the 40s in central Florida. The Florida citrus industry has no major worries because damage is seen only when readings stay at 28 or lower for at least four hours.

North Carolina’s Outer Banks got a rare dusting of snow.

“We’re 22 [degrees] trying to hit 23, so that’s the type of day it’s been,” said National Weather Service meteorologist John Elardo in Newport, N.C.

Blizzard-like conditions were reported for much of Michigan -- and snow was expected today.

In New Hampshire, wind chill advisories were in effect for some parts of the state through early today; forecasters said wind chills could reach 25 below in the northern reaches of the state.

Thermometers registered below zero across West Virginia, including minus-2 at Charleston and 14 below at Snowshoe, the National Weather Service said. Bentleyville, Pa., south of Pittsburgh, dropped to 10 below zero, and Greensboro, N.C., posted a record low for Dec. 20 at 9 above. It was minus 4 at Kingdom Come State Park in Kentucky.

Farther north, it was 18 below zero at 9 a.m. in Massena, N.Y., with a wind chill of 28 below, the weather service said.

Homeless shelters were near capacity in the Atlanta area, where the temperature dropped to 16 degrees.

As much as 6 1/2 inches of snow coated mountain roads in West Virginia, where 21 school districts closed for the day and others opened late.

“This last day of fall certainly doesn’t feel like it,” said Ken Batty, a meteorologist in Charleston, W.Va.