National Briefing

Winter storm warnings and plunging temperatures put a chill on New Year's Eve, but that didn't stop the revelry in New York's Times Square. The wind chill made it feel like 1 degree, but throngs attended anyway. Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton helped lower the crystal ball for the midnight countdown.

In Boston, the First Night celebration was canceled because of a storm that brought snow and winds of up to 40 mph. New Bedford, Mass., delayed its fireworks until Jan. 8, and Baltimore pushed its show back to today because of wind.

The winds proved fatal to a Roman Catholic priest in Loudoun County, Va., who was killed by a falling tree as he tried to clear another fallen tree from a road.

Power outages in Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia caused by high winds cut electricity to nearly 50,000 homes and businesses. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said new outages were likely as winds of up to 60 mph continued into the night.