Record low temperature Police helped two sailors who ran aground on Whites Island in rough conditions on Saturday afternoon.

The fierce storm also caused a USAir flight from Philadelphia to turn back.

Meanwhile, the pilot of an Air Canada flight took a chance and landed after circling for a time.

A hairline fracture was discovered in the cockpit window and repairs were conducted here and the plane was flown back empty. Another plane was flown in to take passengers to Toronto.

Saturday's passing cold front dropped a third of an inch of rain and caused some wind-related damage in the central parishes.

The passage of a squall line shortly after 1 p.m. brought winds of up to 37 knots and gusts in the thunderstorms of up to 50 knots and heavy showers and thunderstorms.

The Bermuda Weather Service recorded that visibility at the Airport dropped to just a half mile and that the temperature fell to just 52 degrees.

And the overnight low was a record for January 6, reaching 48 degrees, beating the old record for 1981 by two degrees.

Duty meteorologist Kimberley Stevenson reported that the likely cause of the damage in the central parishes was strong downbursts or microbursts.

The downbursts are the result of rapidly descending cold air from the upper levels of the thunderstorm making strong winds and gusts at the surface.

There were reports of hail during the storm, which dropped .32 inches of rain.

The pilot of the afternoon's USAir flight from Philadelphia turned back, judging the crosswinds at the sea level airport were too strong.

Nobody was hurt in the Whites Island incident. The men and their 30ft white sloop were pulled from the rocks and towed to a safe mooring during the heavy squall and thunderstorm at around 1.30 p.m.

Two launches went to the scene but only one, with three officers on board actually handled the operation.

The boat's owner reported to Police he was in Hamilton Harbour when a rope became entangled in his propeller, cutting power.

By the time Police got there he was in the water trying to get the rope free.

AIRLINES FLY