Winter storms ravage US from California to northern plains

For the first time since 1989, the National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning through Saturday for Southern California mountains. In Sacramento, the state capital, the weather service said it had received reports of something that might be either hail or graupel — soft, wet snowflakes encased in supercooled water droplets. Nashville topped out Wednesday at 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), breaking a 127-year-old record for the date, according to the weather service. ADVERTISEMENTTemperatures could plunge as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 29 degrees Celsius) Thursday and to minus 25 Fahrenheit (minus 32 Celsius) Friday in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wind chills may fall to minus 50 F (minus 46 C), said Nathan Rick, a meteorologist in Grand Forks.