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The 2,000-mile-long icestorm that downed electricity powerlines, made highway driving treacherous and toppled limb-heavy trees was the unanimous selection for Story of the Day. More than 650,000 are suffering blackouts and so far 36 people have died. The front of sleet and freezing rain stretched from Texas to Maine--but all three networks chose Oklahoma as the state that most vividly put winter on display.

NBC's Dan Teague called the tingling pattern of icicles "surreal--a page taken straight out of Dr Seuss, a winter abstract that is anything but serene." CBS' Kelly Cobiella visited the shelters of Muskogee, filling up because homes lack heat and electricity: "Blame it on a familiar enemy"--El Nino, she suggested. ABC's Mike von Fremd explained the meteorology in more detail: Canadian Arctic air lies underneath warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico; when rain falls from above it freezes as it passes through the cold air, creating ice pellets instead of snow.

Both ABC and CBS followed up with the impact on the California citrus orchards. NBC had decided to have George Lewis preview the Central Valley cold snap on Friday. CBS' Sandra Hughes told us that the avocado crop had been wiped out, with damaged trees not bearing fruit for the next two years. ABC's Brian Rooney warned that the price of fresh oranges increase: a similar freeze in 1998 produced a 50% hike.

Andrew Tyndall 1/17/07 7:06:45 pm

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