[nw_arizona_granny]

I thought that I heard of a fire in Calif. that had burned 2,000 acres and 100 homes were in danger.

Had bad radio reception last night, so nothing was clear on it.

Denver has had early snow, it may be a storm in Wyo. and Montana that took out the electric...

Why, it could have been icicles, or frozen tree branches on the electric line. I am being a wee bit sarcastic here.

[Godzilla]

Denver has had early snow, it may be a storm in Wyo. and Montana that took out the electric... Confirmed - early season blizzard hit MT/WY taking out power lines. Record snow event in Billings MT (9.9 inches).

[LucyT]

(Snowfall) reports of 10 to 15 inches and up towards the Montana border," Sanders said. "Montana and North Dakota got a lot more than we did because of the storm track."

"We had power outages overnight (Tuesday into Wednesday morning) that were storm-related — due to trees sagging or falling into the lines. But when these storms happen in early fall or late spring when the trees are leafed out, it's always more serious than when they're bare. The leaves catch more moisture, and the trees are heavier and more likely to break."

http://rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/10/06/news/local/news01.txt

[LucyT]

Here's more:

The storm that moved in from the Rockies overnight Wednesday

dropped up to two feet of snow in parts of western and central North Dakota, and

winds up to 50 mph created blizzard conditions in some areas.

Thousands of people were without power and

highways around the state, including Interstate 94 west of Bismarck, were shut down. National Guard soldiers were called out to rescue stranded motorists.

"It is, on our records, probably one of the earliest ones, as far as our recorded history goes, in 126, 130 years," said Sam Walker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck.

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/

[Rushmore Rocks]

Re: power outages.

We had heavy, wet snow in So. Dak., Montana and Wyoming. Lots of power outages. All my beautiful flowers are frozen. And my tomatoes. Supposed to be really warm again for the weekend. I ran my air conditioner on Tues.....my furnace on Wed.