Evening star., 1950-04-14
WintrySpring
To Continue;;
.24Sets Record
Mercury Will Hit
28 Tonight in City;
Nearby Fruit Hurt

WaShington'S wintry Sprins
continued this morning. with the
temperature dropping to "a de-
grees. 6 deGrees lower than the
coldest April IA on record here.
The cold spell will continue to-
night with the thermometer ex-
pected to so down to 2s degrees
In the city and % degrees in the
suburbs.
The 24degree reading tliis
morning was at the WaShinstoh
Airport. The coolest weather on
this date heretofore was in 1888
and 1910, when 30 was recorded
In nearby areas it was even
colder last night, Greenbelt. Md.
was the coolest place. with 2l
degrees. In Virginia, Falls Church,
Bancroft. Hyattsville and Airing
ton all reported temperatures Of
% degrees.
Some Crops Damaged.
Meanwhile. the below freezing
temperatures threatened to do
widespread damage to fruit crops
in Maryland and Virginia.
The Winchester Research Lab
oratory reported that the peach
orchards in Virginia probably are
hurt badly" An accurate esti-
mate OF the amount was not
available.
The Virginia apple crop may
escape serious harm, however.
The laboratory reported most Of
the apples are well back in the
bud" and probably haven't been
hurt.
The University of Maryland re-
ported it expected serious damage
to both the States peach and
strawberry crops. Again. an esti-
mate will have to wait until tenn
peratures rise again.
Spinach, lettuce and snap bean
crops also probably suffered severe
damage. the university reported
Predictions Are No Comfort.
Maryland and Virginia farmers
found no consolation in the bu-
reau's predictions for those two
States.
The temperature Is expected to
drop to 90 degrees in the western
part Of Maryland tonight and Is
degrees in the eastern portion.
The same Is expected for Virginia.
The Weather Bureau forecast
called for cold. windy and fair
weather today in the Washington
area. Saturday will be somewhat
milder.
The five-day outlook OF the
Weather Bureau predicts temper
atures about 7 degrees below
normal through next Tuesday.
The norms for this time OF the
year are a high of So degrees and
low of 43 degrees. Sunday will
be cold with normal temperatures
arriving around Tuesday, accom-
panied by some rain.
The high of AZ degrees yesterday
was recorded at 1901 am. A 10
inmate snow furry struck Wash
ington at 7;30 pm. yesterday to
give the final touch to the wintry
season.
Rest of Nation Shivers.
This abnormal spring weather
was being felt over the Nation.
The Weather Bureau said that
polar air got a late start moving
into the eastern half OF the
country. But 1t finally found out
let's. roared across the border and
spilled over wide areas.
New York City. for instance.
woke up this morning to its sec
ond day of snow. Not much to
be sure. but enough to see on
the streets. Snow in New Eng
land measured as much as 8
inches.
The freezing temperatures ex-
tended as far South as the Caro-
linas and Tennessee. The cold air
covered the eastern two-thirds Of
the United States. except for
Florida and Southern Texas.
The low for the Nation was
Q degrees below zero at Grand
Forks. N. Oak. The high was 81
degrees at Yuma. Ariz.. with read
ings in the 80s along the Rio
Grande Valley and in Florida.
For the second day in a row,
"a series Of cities began to report
record lows for the date: Akron.
Ohio. 13 land four inches OF
snow New York, 25.2; Cleveland,
20 lowest in 80 years. Dayton,
Ohio. % tbreaking 1885 record OF
23; Curwensville. Pa. IL; Phila-
delphia. 26.