'Historic' winter storm dumps 3 feet of snow, smashes records in West

One week after summer's end, a "winter" storm began blasting parts of the West with up to 3 feet of snow, smashing records with low temperatures, heavy snow, strong winds and blizzard conditions forecast into Monday. Snow was piling up across parts of California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Nevada and Utah. The National Weather Service, calling the storm "historic," said temperatures in some areas would drop as much as 30 degrees below normal. "Many daily record low maximum temperature records are possible through Monday, especially across the Northern Great Basin, Rockies and Northern California," the weather service said. "An unprecedented winter storm (is) throwing our state a surprise in September," said Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who declared a winter storm emergency in his state. High winds downed trees and power lines, temporarily closing some roads and triggering cellular and power outages. The town of Browning, near Glacier National Park, recorded 40 inches of snow Sunday...MORE