Rare snow storm surprises Arizona

PHOENIX - More than a foot of snow fell on parts of northern Arizona, and several more inches were possible Monday, while children as far south as Tucson got a rare chance to play in the snow as one of the strongest storms of the winter moved through the state.

Sunday's storm came amid a wave of winter storms that have brought snow, ice and strong winds to the Plains region, but also to the Southwest, including Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.

The harsh, frigid conditions were blamed for 11 traffic fatalities in the Plains over the weekend.

Although the heaviest snowfall in Arizona on Sunday was in the north, snow also fell in downtown Phoenix and Tucson, which received up to 1 1/2 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Danita D'Water said there were huge snowflakes in her neighborhood in far northeast Phoenix.

"The children are running up and down the street, riding their scooters in the snow," she said. "The kids are pretty excited but the adults were out taking pictures."

More than a foot fell in Forest Lakes, Pinetop and at the Sunrise Ski Resort, among other places in northern Arizona. Between one and three inches fell in Flagstaff, said Robert Bohlin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

A winter storm warning remained in effect until noon Monday for parts of northern and northeastern Arizona, with the National Weather Service forecasting up to an additional three inches of snow.

Dense fog and icy roads created hazardous driving conditions Monday morning in the Tucson area.

In Colorado, 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across much of the Front Range, with more in the in the eastern plains and the mountains. Strong winds created whiteout conditions on the state's eastern plains.

On Sunday, officials closed a long stretch of Interstate 70, from near Denver International Airport almost to the Kansas state line because of high winds, blowing snow, poor visibility and ice. The road had reopened by Monday morning.

Snow and icy roads caused accidents that shut down southbound Interstate 25 near Fort Collins for two hours Sunday morning. State Patrol Master Trooper Ron Watkins said no injuries were reported.

In Oklahoma, where an ice storm disrupted power to as many as 125,000 homes and businesses more than a week ago, about 20,000 electrical customers remained without power early Monday — mostly in the eastern part of the state.

Hundreds of utility linemen worked through the night in hopes of fully restoring power by Monday or Tuesday, authorities said.

Warmer temperatures in the state led to melting ice and snow that have turned roads into slushy rivers, yards into quagmires and streams into rushing torrents.

A pickup truck carrying radioactive materials used in pipeline scanning equipment was swept from a bridge and disappeared in a swollen creek in Oklahoma's Pittsburg County, said Undersheriff Richard Sexton.

The truck's two occupants escaped unharmed, but efforts to locate the truck and its radioactive cargo were suspended after dark. He said officials hope the creek's level will fall enough on Monday to reveal the truck's whereabouts. A container with the material is bolted to the truck.

"The radioactive materials are still in the truck, and that's what we're worried about," Sexton said.

In Missouri, more than 45,000 people remained in the dark from the same storm.

Winter weather has also hit hard on the East Coast, bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain to Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland and making roads treacherous. An accident on Interstate 81 in Virginia killed one person and injured five, authorities said.

Earthquake in Indonesia leaves 4 dead

MANADO, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake in northeastern Indonesia left four people dead and four injured when it rattled buildings, causing panicked residents to flee homes, churches and shopping malls, officials and witnesses said Monday.

Three men died after collapsing as they fled their houses Sunday in seaside Tuminting neighborhood in northern Manado, a regional capital on Sulawesi island, said Hani Solang, a subdistrict chief.

The fourth dead victim was a woman who suffered a heart attack, apparently triggered by the shock of the quake, and one of those hurt broke his leg after jumping from the fourth floor of a building, said a doctor in Manado.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the earthquake at magnitude 7.3 and the Indonesian seismological institute issued a tsunami alert via television and radio, but the feared wave never came.

The quake struck six miles beneath the Molucca Sea and was centered 80 miles from the Maluku capital of Ternate and 1,400 miles northeast of the capital of Jakarta, the USGS said.

Some buildings in Manado were left with cracks and other damage. Tsunami fears sent hundreds of people running inland to higher ground or racing off in cars and on motorcycles, causing massive traffic jams, witnesses said.

Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

In December 2004, a massive earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island triggered a tsunami that battered much of the Indian Ocean coastline and killed more than 230,000 people — 131,000 of them in Indonesia's Aceh province alone.

A tsunami off Java island last year killed nearly 5,000.