Welcome to the last Sunday of 2006

Monster winter storm moves into Plains

DENVER - Denver was spared another round of heavy snow but an expansive winter storm that rolled out of the Rockies trapped drivers farther east in 10-foot drifts.

Denver had expected a foot or more of additional snow through Sunday, but the storm trudged northeast from New Mexico into the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. Parts of eastern Colorado still expected up to 2 feet, along with high winds.

The storm stretched nearly from Canada to Mexico.

"It's still a very powerful storm," said meteorologist Jim Kalina of the National Weather Service. Winds exceeding 50 mph produced whiteout conditions.

National Guard troops in tracked vehicles crawled through the blizzard to rescue hundreds of motorists who became stranded in the region's second blizzard during the busy holiday travel season.

"They're telling me it's zero visibility," said Maj. Gen. Mason Whitney, the state adjutant general. "They'll kind of bump into something and it'll turn out to be a car with people in it."

The Guard and Civil Air Patrol planned to do searches by helicopter early Sunday, weather permitting.

The storm, which hampered air travel through Denver on Thursday and Friday, spread snow from New Mexico to the Dakotas and generated strong thunderstorms in the lower Mississippi Valley.

Conditions were so bad that some snowplows had to stay off the roads.

In Denver, the sun emerged Saturday for the first time in several days, helping street crews clearing snow and ice left from the pre-Christmas blizzard. Major carriers at Denver International Airport resumed flying regular schedules after canceling 20 percent of flights during the storm.

The weather service on Saturday reported 30 inches in the foothills west of Denver, with more than 9 inches in the city.

Parts of Interstate 70 from the Rockies to Kansas remained closed Saturday, along with several other major east-west highways. In New Mexico, Interstate 25 from Pueblo to Santa Fe was also closed.

A Kansas Highway Patrol dispatcher said most major roads from Kansas into Colorado would remain closed until Colorado officials reopen their routes.

Ice and strong winds knocked out power to at least 14,000 people in Kansas, where up to 18 inches of snow had fallen by Saturday in some areas. The snow later turned to rain in many areas. Up to a foot fell in southwestern and central Nebraska.

One traffic death was blamed on the storm in Colorado and a tornado killed one person Friday in Texas. The storm also created severe thunderstorms in the South. A possible tornado was reported Saturday in southern Louisiana.

On Friday, tornadoes generated by the storm in Texas destroyed as many as 50 homes and forced President Bush and his wife into an armored vehicle on his Crawford ranch.

Residents of an assisted living center for military veterans in Texas had little time to react Friday before a tornado struck, killing one person.

More than 15 inches of snow fell at Albuquerque's airport by noon Saturday, setting records.

In North Dakota, transportation officials pulled snowplows off many roads late Saturday because of reduced visibility.

The National Weather Service said snowfall amounts in the central part of the state late Saturday night ranged from 8 inches in Bismarck to 16 inches in Ashley, with up to 3 more inches expected overnight.

Malaysian floods death toll rises to 12, another missing

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - The death toll from Malaysia's disastrous floods has risen to 12, with another youth missing, but authorities said fears of another round of flooding had been averted.

The latest confirmed victim is a five-year-old girl whose body was found late Friday, the official Bernama news agency said.

She was swept away when the car her family was travelling in was caught by strong currents. Her father survived, but her mother and three-year-old sister also died.

However, an 18-year-old youth is missing after he was lost in floodwaters late Friday, Bernama said.

Malaysia's opposition has called for an inquiry into the floods, the worst in decades, which have forced nearly 59,0000 people in southern Johor state to flee their homes and take shelter in relief centres.

However, Johor chief minister Abdul Ghani Othman said he was confident the situation in the state would be back to normal within the next few days.

Abdul Ghani said the second wave of rains predicted by forecasters would not take place as the rain-bearing clouds had been blown towards Singapore and Sabah state on Borneo island.

Minor quake shakes northern Japan, no injuries

TOKYO, Dec 31 (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 jolted Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido early on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the quake, which occurred at 7:34 a.m. (2234 GMT Saturday), according to Japan's Kyodo news agency.

Tremors of similar intensity usually cause hanging objects to swing and can be felt by people walking on the street. The meteorological agency said there was no risk of a tsunami.

The focus of the tremor was 50 km (31.07 miles) below the surface of the earth, off the east coast of Hokkaido, it said.