Snow

A massive manhunt in the Big Bear area for a former police officer suspected of killing three people is scaring off some visitors to nearby ski slopes just as resort operators were counting on fresh powder to help them rebound from an abysmal snow season last year. More than 100 officers, many in tactical gear and carrying automatic weapons, continued the search Friday in the San Bernardino Mountains for former Los Angeles Police Officer Christopher Jordan Dorner. The Bear Mountain and Snow Summit ski resorts opened as usual Friday morning after the manhunt forced the early closure of Bear Mountain on Thursday afternoon.

NEW YORK -- Matthew Grass had planned on renting a car here and driving north to see snow. But the snow came to him, falling in light, icy flakes across Times Square just hours after Grass, his wife and two daughters arrived in New York City on a week's vacation from New Orleans. Across the Northeast -- where anywhere from 1 to 3 feet of snow was predicted to fall during a major blizzard -- state and local officials issued dire warnings instructing people to stay inside and wait for the worst to pass.

Parts of the Northeast are bracing for as much as 2 feet of snow with fierce winds of up to 75 mph as a major blizzard is expected to bring near-record misery to the region. The storm, whose effects will likely be felt as soon as Friday, could be the worst blizzard since 1978. A major chunk of the nation, from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and metropolitan New York, then up through Maine, are already under a winter weather advisory, according to the National Weather Service.

NEW YORK - Parts of the Northeast were bracing Thursday for as much as 2 feet of snow combined with fierce winds of up to 75 mph as a major blizzard was expected to bring misery to the region. Officials stockpiled ice-fighting supplies and put additional crews on alert from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and metropolitan New York, and up through Maine. The National Weather Service posted winter weather advisories across the area and a blizzard warning for the coast. Some 900 flights were canceled and thousands more were delayed even though the worst weather was not expected until Friday.

One Snow White fairy tale, two films, two master costume designers and a pair of Oscar nominations showcase just how elemental to moviemaking a costume designer truly is. If you've seen both films - "Mirror Mirror," starring Julia Roberts and Lily Collins, and "Snow White and the Huntsman," starring Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart - you know the plots are essentially the same: Each is true to the Brothers Grimm tale of beautiful damsel versus...

When it rains, it pours. Or snows. The panel investigating links between the International Cycling Union and Lance Armstrong has postponed its first hearing in London because of snow. The panel will now hold its procedural hearing on Friday instead of Tuesday. The three-person panel will consider whether to introduce an amnesty or truth and reconciliation commission to persuade riders to come forward with doping information without fear of retribution. The panel is investigating accusations that UCI leaders covered up suspicious doping tests given by Armstrong during his seven Tour de France victories and unethically accepted donations from him totaling $125,000.

On a recent Sunday morning in Los Angeles, Adam Williams and his crew set up their blowers outside a house in Hancock Park and blanketed the yard in 20 tons of snow. Using 15-pound blocks of crushed ice, it took Williams and his crew about 2 1/2 hours to cover the front lawn and build half a dozen snowmen in a commercial for the cable channel FearNet. In the ad, a little girl cheerfully entombs someone who appears to be her father inside one of the snowmen. To create the effect, producers of the commercial turned to MagicSnow Systems, a 10-year-old Los Angeles company.

A deadly winter storm that dropped twisters onto the South on Christmas Day raced across the Northeast on Thursday, bringing with it heavy snowfall, high winds and more canceled flights. Over the last two days, the storm has dropped heavy amounts of snow, sleet or rain on a vast swath of the country. High winds toppled trees, twisters tore up homes and icy roads became death traps. On Thursday morning, the heaviest snow was falling across northern New York and into northern New England, the National Weather Service said.

A bit like Santa crashing through the roof, snow is expected to make a not-entirely-welcome appearance across the U.S. on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. More than 93 million people will travel an average of 760 miles during the holidays, according to AAA , the motorists' organization, and will encounter challenging weather across the country. Some parts of Oklahoma, northern Arkansas and southern Missouri could see up to 6 inches of snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, according to AccuWeather.

White Christmases have been so rare in Little Rock, Ark., that you could almost count them on both hands since recordkeeping began in 1875. Hard winters, after all, visit this part of the South somewhat infrequently. But in this city's history, white Christmas has sometimes held a figurative meaning. This year, the white Christmas could be meteorological: According to the National Weather Service's Little Rock office, a storm gathering over the southern Plains could bring 1 to 3 inches of snow Tuesday.