ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Florida's citrus growers Sunday were facing significant damage with the coldest temperatures in more than 20 years, forecasters said.
Accuweater.com said the hard freeze, in which temperatures in orange grove country would dip below the critical 28-degree mark Sunday night, will be the worst since 1989. In many groves the sub-28-degree temps would linger for up to 10 hours or more, which could destroy 6 to 10 percent of the area's crop, AccuWeather.com Agricultural Meteorologist Dale Mohler said.
Also in trouble is the sugarcane crop in Louisiana, where lows were expected to fall into the teens.
In Orlando, Fla., Saturday brought a light dusting of snow and an icy mix of sleet, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The Florida cold prompted a record for winter electrical demand last week, a Florida Power & Light spokeswoman told Sunday's Palm Beach (Fla.) Post.
Meanwhile, the cold snap caused four water main breaks to break in downtown Nashville Saturday, closing local streets, The Tennessean reported.
In central Texas, shivering residents were dealing with broken water pipes and icy roads as temperatures at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport dipped to a low of 10 degrees, breaking the Jan. 9 record set in 1976, the Austin American-Statesman said.
