Weather

A portion of Santiago Canyon Road was expected to remain closed through the night Wednesday as crews worked to restore power lines blown down by high winds. About 20 motorists were stopped for 45 minutes after the two lines went down about 6:50 p.m., a quarter-mile east of Jamboree Road. The vehicles were eventually backed out and redirected. There were reports of a power outage, Orange Police Department Lt. Brad Davis said, but it was unclear how widespread it was. -- -- David Haldane

Wind gusts of more than 80 mph were expected to last through this afternoon as the result of a storm system that rolled into the Southland from Canada on Wednesday. The National Weather Service issued a high-wind warning for Los Angeles County's coast, valleys and mountains and the Ventura County coast until 3 p.m. today. A high-wind warning was also posted for the Ventura County mountains until 3 p.m. today. High-wind advisories will be in effect for the coast and foothills in Orange County until 8 p.m. and for the valleys and mountains in San Bernardino and Riverside counties until 10 a.m. today, when it will become a high-wind warning until 8 p.m. Winds are expected to gust to more than 80 mph in the mountains and 60 mph in the valleys of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Hurricane-strength winds battered Orange County late Wednesday and early Thursday, trapping motorists, downing utility poles and interrupting power to thousands of residents. Although no injuries were reported, 40 businesses in two Santa Ana strip malls probably will be without power until Sunday, said Larry Labrado, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. "Our guys came out last night and have been working ever since," he said. The county's strongest winds were reported about 2:30 a.m.

As temperatures plummeted into the single digits across the Midwest on Saturday, residents reached for their thermal underwear, worried about the possibility of frozen pipes and huddled indoors as an Arctic wind chill made it feel like 20 below zero. In some spots, it felt even colder. As winds and cold air blew in from the northwest, the National Weather Service reported that parts of Minnesota and North Dakota were hit with wind-chill temperatures as low as 35 below.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The question is: Sleeves or no sleeves? When the New York Giants play the Green Bay Packers for the NFC championship today, a fair amount of attention will be paid to what the players wear under their jerseys. That's because the forecast calls for a low temperature of minus-8 degrees with a wind-chill factor dipping to minus-30.

A fierce winter storm left the Southland's mountain regions battered and snow-crusted Thursday, and hundreds of motorists found themselves stranded along Interstate 5 in the Tejon Pass after public safety officials ordered the key artery closed indefinitely as they braced for yet another icy tempest.

It is yet another attempt by man to triumph over nature. Determined not to let anything spoil their party, organizers of the 2008 Summer Olympics said Wednesday that they will take control over the most unpredictable element of all -- the weather. While China's Olympic athletes are getting ready to compete on the fields, its meteorologists are working the skies, attempting the difficult feat of making sure it doesn't rain on the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies. "Our team is trained.

A storm system heading toward Southern California will bring another wet weekend as forecasters predict as much as three-quarters of an inch of rain in coastal and valley areas. The rain was expected to start late Friday night, around midnight, and continue through Sunday afternoon, with winds gusting up to 20 mph near the coast, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Scattered showers could follow Sunday night. The traveling storm is what meteorologists call an "inside slider" because it originates over land, in this case near Utah, rather than off the Pacific coast, Seto said.

A slow-moving storm brought modest amounts of rain to the region, causing a minor mudslide in Riverside County and wreaking havoc on some roads before pushing out to the east. In its wake, forecasters expected chilly but sunny weather today, with heavy surf at some beaches. The storm brought 0.68 of an inch of rain to downtown Los Angeles by Sunday evening, and larger amounts elsewhere, contributing to seasonal totals that were already well above average. In Riverside County, up to 3 feet of mud oozed across Soboba Road in Gilman Hot Springs, engulfing two cars and trapping one driver, who was rescued by firefighters, county Fire Capt.

China's main north-south national highway reopened Monday after weeks of snow and ice storms, easing transportation bottlenecks that have stranded millions of people and disrupted food and fuel supplies as the year's biggest holiday approaches. The China Meteorological Administration predicted rain and sleet through today, but said the weather would clear in time for the Lunar New Year on Thursday.