WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Florida endured a third night
of record cold as farmers tried to save late fall fruit and vegetable
crops, the National Weather Service reported Wednesday.

The low of 35 degrees at Palm Beach International Airport broke a
record of 36 set in 1962, the Palm Beach Post reported. Belle Glade,
Okeechobee, Vero Beach, Clewiston and Fort Pierce also broke or tied
record lows.

Farmers again sent helicopters out to circulate warmer air over fields
Wednesday morning.

A new storm system was moving through the Rockies Wednesday,
AccuWeather.com reported, and was forecast to sweep across the country
to the East Coast from North Carolina to Delaware.

Snow and icy conditions were forecast for a belt stretching from
Arkansas into Tennessee and Kentucky Wednesday, reaching North
Carolina and Virginia Thursday.

Bitter cold, intensified by wind, extended deep into the South
Wednesday. Temperatures are averaging 8 to 10 degrees below normal for
December from Minnesota all the way to Florida.

Many records, some of them more than 100 years old, fell throughout
the southeastern United States Monday and Tuesday.

Baltimore declared the season's first "Code Blue" day Tuesday,
extending hours at a homeless shelter and opening an extra one, the
Baltimore Sun reported. Wednesday's forecast called for lows in the
low 20s and wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour.


--
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
Lat: 50.82N Long: 01.88W
NGR: SU 082 023