Spring's first full day bore an uncanny resemblance to winter in the East, with temperatures diving below freezing in Southern states Wednesday, wet snow making New England's roads sloppy and flurries decorating the mid-Atlantic.
High pressure made Southerners shiver and prompted frost and freeze warnings throughout the region, although skies were relatively clear. The mercury dropped to 31 in Knoxville, Tenn., and farmers across the Carolinas and Virginia were warned about possible damage to crops.Flooding from rains that lashed the region earlier in the week continued to make trouble for Selma, Ala., where state officials said as many as 1,000 people could be evacuated before the waters recede.
Two rain-swollen rivers in the Florida Panhandle - the Choctawhatchee and Apalachicola - continued rising Tuesday, and the Choctawhatchee crested at 9 feet above flood stage. The entire population of Caryville, 800 people, has been evacuated, said Washington County Administrator Roger Hagan.
Rain fell in much of New England, where up to 14 inches of heavy, wet snow left thousands in Vermont without power, spawned dozens of traffic mishaps and caused the Connecticut River to overflow its banks.
Meanwhile, motorists were having a hard time negotiating snow-slick roads in central Vermont, with at least 50 cars leaving area highways, Vermont State Police dispatcher Susan Nadeau said.
In nearby Amherst, Mass., the rains triggered an annual spring-mating rite for dozens of spotted mole salamanders. Each spring, the love-struck amphibians leave their holes in an Amherst hillside and cross Henry Street to get to mating ponds across the road.
"It's about 10 days earlier than it's been in the last decade, but for them to move this early is not at all out of line," said Lisa Bertoldi, spokeswoman for the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst.
In the West, hot, dry temperatures started to cool. Los Angeles, which hit a record 90 degrees Tuesday, breaking the previous mark set two years ago, cooled into the mid 60s overnight and temperatures were expected to hit the mid 80s under mostly clear skies. Elsewhere, California'a summerlike temperatures were cooling under scattered clouds and light winds, which dropped the mercury into the 60s and 70s.
Montana, east of the divide, had partly cloudy skies with areas of low clouds and fog near the Canadian border. West of the divide, it was partly cloudy with lows in the 30s.