Family Life

01.05.10 | FL News Team

A widespread cold snap is expected to keep the eastern U.S. in a deep freeze this week. Areas from Maine to Miami have already started seeing temperatures dip well below average for this time of year. The National Weather Service issued hard freeze warnings overnight for parts of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi as the chill moved in on the Gulf Coast. In central Florida, many farmers are being cautiously optimistic after their orange crops survived subfreezing temperatures that hit the Sunshine State on Monday. South Florida got hit with temperatures in the upper 30s overnight as football fans arrived early for the Orange Bowl, which kicks off tonight at Landshark Stadium near Miami. The cold is expected to linger for another seven to ten days.

 The National Weather Service has issued winter weather and wind chill advisories for Virginia and West Virginia, where icy roads are being blamed for at least two deaths. Wind chill and winter weather advisories are also in effect for Tennessee, where Memphis officials say the cold was to blame for at least three deaths in one day. Meanwhile, the Carolinas are bracing for storms and possible flooding this week. Farther north, around 14-hundred homes in Oakland, Maryland are thawing out after losing power on a night when temperatures hovered around zero. Ice on the Delaware river also forced crews to shut down one nuclear power plant in New Jersey on Sunday and put another on reduced power. Today, parts of upstate New York are dealing with up to three feet of snow and folks in Burlington, Vermont are still digging out of a weekend snow storm that dumped a record 33 inches in one fell swoop.