It May Be March But Winter Ain’t Over Yet

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Parts of California were getting a welcome dose of rain and snow from a storm system moving through the state, while late-winter weather dumped snow elsewhere in the Southwest.

The storm system also brought scattered showers as it moved into the central and southern areas of California late in the afternoon. The weather service said around 7 p.m., light rain moved toward the wildfire-scarred hillsides above Glendora and Asuza east of Los Angeles, the site of the devastating Colby Fire in January 2014.

Up to a foot of snow could fall through Monday, including in the San Bernardino and Angeles national forests. That follows a spell of dry weather that had some ski resorts talking about closing.

Meanwhile, sections of central and northern New Mexico received a record-breaking snowfall Friday and Saturday with more expected throughout the weekend, weather officials said.

In the Midwest and central part of the U.S., various states, including Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kansas, experienced a mix of freezing rain and snow on Saturday.

The arctic winter weather system had led to several record-breaking cold temperature readings in Iowa. Mason City, Iowa, hit a record low of 18 degrees below zero at 6 a.m. Friday, shattering its 115-year-old record for Feb. 27 of 12-below, set in 1899, the National Weather Service said. Waterloo also reached a record low of 24-below zero on Friday. The previous record of 14-below was set in 1897.

A dusting of snow could be seen starting Saturday afternoon overnight into Sunday for central and parts of eastern Nebraska, with some heavier snow in the southern portions of the state. That light snow was expected to quickly move into Iowa, with heavier amounts near the southern border with Missouri.

According to the National Weather Service, freezing rain would be possible on Sunday in the southern parts of Illinois, Missouri and Ohio. Snow was forecast for parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

In other parts of the country, flights were canceled because of ice on the runways, snow collapsed a skating rink roof in Massachusetts, and local governments readied for what was to come.

In Texas, freezing rain for the second consecutive day left highways slick and forced the cancellation of nearly another 1,000 flights Saturday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, one of the nation's biggest airline hubs.