MEMPHIS, Tenn.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0A huge swath of the U.S. from the Gulf Coast into New England was mired in extra-cold temperatures Sunday after a \u201cbomb cyclone\u201d brought heavy snow and hundreds of flight cancellations to North Carolina \u2014 and flurries and falling iguanas in Florida.<\/p>\n
More misery was in store for thousands who are still without power from last weekend\u2019s ice storm in the South.<\/p>\n
About 150 million people were under cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings in the eastern portion of the U.S., with wind chills near zero to the single digits in the South and the coldest air mass seen in south Florida since December 1989, said Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the weather prediction center in College Park, Md.<\/p>\n
The Tampa-St. Petersburg area in Florida saw snow flurries and temperatures in the 20s in the Panhandle and in the 30s in south Florida on Sunday morning, Mullinax said. That left cold-stunned iguanas falling from trees and lying prostrate and motionless on the ground. Iguanas in south Florida go dormant in the cold, and though they usually wake when temperatures warm, the reptiles can die after more than a day of extreme cold. <\/p>\n
The cold also left icicles on strawberries and oranges in the state. Farmers in Florida sometimes spray water on fruit trees and berry plants to protect them from the cold.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the bomb cyclone, known to meteorologists as an intense, rapidly strengthening weather system, contributed to nearly a foot of snow in and around Charlotte, North Carolina\u2019s largest city. The snowfall represents one of the top five snow events ever recorded there, Mullinax said. <\/p>\n
In eastern North Carolina, James City recorded 18 inches of snow, while Swansboro recorded 17 inches, the National Weather Service reported.<\/p>\n
Flight cancellations exceeded 2,800 in the U.S. on Saturday, with 1,700 more Sunday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking and data company. More than 800 of those Sunday cancellations were for flights departing or arriving at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.<\/p>\n
The storm caused an hours-long mess on Interstate 85 northeast of the city, after a crash left dozens of semitrailers and other vehicles backed up into the evening, according to the State Highway Patrol. More than 1,000 traffic collisions and two road deaths were reported, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said Sunday. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an impressive cold shot, for sure, and there are daily records that are being seen down in the South,\u201d Mullinax said. <\/p>\n
In Kitty Hawk on North Carolina\u2019s Outer Banks, Susan Sawin said her house got a \u201cwhopping\u201d amount of snow and strong winds that reminded her of a nor\u2019easter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was blowing around like crazy,\u201d said Sawin, 63. \u201cIt was a roaring wind. … The house shook.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has a snowdrift about 2 feet high outside her house, but she did not lose power. Sawin said she was thankful there was sufficient warning from officials ahead of the bomb cyclone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what it felt like, with the wind and driving snow last night,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s an accurate description.\u201d<\/p>\n
An owner of three bookstores, she closed her businesses over the weekend and plans to remain shut Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe rarely close for a whole day,\u201d she said. \u201cThis past August, we had a hurricane brush by, and I think we opened late one day. It\u2019s pretty unusual to close for three days in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also in North Carolina, officials said an unoccupied beachfront house in the Buxton community on Cape Hatteras collapsed in heavy surf Sunday.<\/p>\n