Week-long record cold that broke records in more than 100 cities in the Plains and Midwest blazed a chilling trail to the South Monday, freezing the billion-dollar citrus fruit industry in Texas and Florida. The deep freeze signaled a job crisis to citrus workers.
Nationwide, at least 160 people died as a result of the cold and storms -- including 27 in Texas, 18 in Illinois, 15 in Arkansas and nine in Georgia.
Arctic air engulfed some :entral and Eastern states, with Monday morning lows below freezing. Subzero temperatures moved across the northern Rockies through the middle and upper Mississippi Valley and into northern New England.
Michigan officials said a Detroit mother of three slipped on the ice and hit her head as she tried to open the front door. Her body was found Christmas morning on her front steps.
In Ghent, N.Y., pajama-clad, 2-year-old Sunshine Perlmutter who was accidentally locked out of her home Christmas morning froze to death in 10-below-zero temperatures. The child was found on the porch of a vacant house next to her home.
Arctic cold hit Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Florida. Forecasters predicted a slight warming trend Monday from 20-degree readings.
Citrus growers in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas said bitter weekend cold wiped out the entire crop of grapefruit and oranges. Growers estimated their loss at more than $30 million.
'All the grapefruit and oranges are frozen and are lost to the point they are no longer suitable for the fresh fruit market,' said Ray Prewett, manager of the Texas Citrus Mutual.
Prewitt said many of the citrus workers would be laid off and packing sheds closed. 'This is a major disaster and a bleak Christmas for both the growers and the workers.'
The bulk of winter vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and various greens were also damaged.
Temperatures ranged from 5 to 10 degrees in northern Georgia and minus 4 at Clayton, Ga. Below freezing temperatures in Arkansas froze the Arkansas River over Monday for the first time since the late 1880s.
A freeze warning was in effect Monday for most of southern Florida and wind chill readings were below zero in the :entral part of the state.
Farmers in Florida's citrus belt tried to warm fruit trees by pumping water over them.
'Everyone will be out there pumping, and no one ever gets enough (water) in a freeze like this,' said Dale Cassens, a Fort Pierce grower. 'There were so many days of warm weather that trees are unprepared. We've been having 80-degree days and now this sudden chill.'
Unprepared growers were angry at weather forecasters.
'The thing that shocks us is that all the professional long-range weather forecasts did not catch this cold wave coming in. We had no knowledge of it until noon Saturday after we had sent our work crews home for Christmas. 'We could have picked, we could have irrigated, we could have done a lot of things,' Jerry Chicone jr. promienent Orlando, Fla., grower, said.
Christmas Day was Florida's coldest in recent memory. Temperatures dipped into the low 40s in the Miami area and one elderly man died of exposure.
'He was an elderly gentleman, in his 70s I would guess,' said Dr. John Williams of the Jackson Memorial Hospital emergency room. 'He was a street person, destitute -- probably an alcoholic who fell asleep in the street and was exposed for a long period of time.'
Earl Wells, a spokesman for Florida Citrus Mutual at Lakeland, said the freeze was the worst since January 1982. Damage estimates in that cold snap reached $500 million.
Shreveport, La., had a 14-degree reading, Baton Rouge 15, Lake Charles 21 and New Orleans 25.
Illinois temperatures pulled from below freezing lows to afternoon highs of 5 to 10 degrees. Residents in Minnesota basked in above zero temperatures.
Travelers advisories were in effect for snow and freezing rain across Idaho and the northern half of Utah. Four inches of snow packed Salt Lake City and a half a foot hit Alta, Utah.
A total of 125 records, including lows for the month and wind chill factors, were broken Sunday.
Record low temperatures for Christmas Day were set in Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Louisiana, West Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Montana and Colorado.
