record low for February 15.

But the chilly blast failed to reach the 1950's all-time low of 44 degrees.

The Bermuda Weather Service said yesterday's temperature -- which was accompanied by hail -- beat the previous February 15 low of 51 degrees in 1955.

Meteorologist Mark Guishard blamed the cold on northwesterly winds bringing cool air.

This combined with a low pressure system pulling cold air from the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

"There are a number of showers and thunderstorms on our radar,'' he said yesterday. "And on Sunday there was a quite strong cold front which passed on Sunday night which brought the hail.'' Mr. Guishard said yesterday's weather patterns were identical to the weather system that brought Bermuda's all time low of 44 on February 27 and 28, 1950.

A Bermuda Electric Light Co. spokeswoman last night reported weather- related power outages yesterday afternoon.

Portions of Spanish Point and Tuckers Town and a large swath of Paget were in the dark for several hours until crews could restore power.

A crew worked feverishly to erect a temporary pole to support a pole damaged in what is believed to have been a direct lightning hit on White Sands Road, Paget.

Photos by Arthur Bean, Ras Mykkal Hail to Bermuda: As Cindy Esdaille (above) bent to collect hail around noon yesterday, the wind nearly destroyed her umbrella outside the City Hall in Hamilton. Below: Deion Steede shows off hail collected on Par-la-Ville Road.

Winter blast hits Bermuda The crew had to cut power to homes and businesses from Point Finger Road to the area of Harmony Hall to make repairs.

Radio station VSB's transmissions were also affected by the high winds.

The station went off air on the FM frequency on Sunday afternoon after the company's transmitter was struck by a technical fault in high winds.

A company spokesman said that, although the fault was thought to be a minor one, it was not possible to send an engineer up the tower to get it repaired because the high winds made it too dangerous.

The spokesman said that the fault would probably not be fixed until winds died down on Thursday.

In the meantime the company is broadcasting its usual daytime schedule on 1160AM, switching to the BBC World Service throughout the night.