| Summary: | Highways Blocked in Mid-Western States; Mercury Below Zero. Highways Blocked in Mid- Western States; Mercury Below Zero. Swirling snow and sleet swept across mid-America and the Pacific northwest on icy winds today, paralyzing traffic fie in some states, causing casualties and discomfort in all. Large flakes of "dry" snow drifting to the ground accompanied by freezing temperatures greeted residents in the city and throughout the rest of the Inland Empire. COLD FORECAST More snow and cold were forecast by the weather bureau. A low pressure area off the coast of Alaska was responsible for the local snow. The first casualty of the new snow occurred early today when Charles Mansfield, 51, cook living at the Le Roi apartments, suffered a possibly fractured hip when he slipped in the street in the west 3509 block on Heroy. A police patrol took him to the emergency hospital. FEW MISHAPS Motorists experienced some difficulty in traveling the steeper hills in the city, but no serious mishaps were reported to police. The mercury dropped to 15 above zero at 2 a.m. Tuesday, low for the day. At 8 a.m. it was 16. At 5 a.m. this morning .8 of an inch of snow was measured by the weather bureau and more was piling up hourly. ICE FLOES Huge ice floes crashed over Kettle Falls in the Columbia river today, American Wire reported. Temperatures have reached subzero. Despite roads turned into slippery lanes by the snow and ice, motor busses from the east and west came in on schedule. WARN RANCHERS Livestock men in the Walla Walla district were warned that the most severe winter weather is just ahead. Wheat farmers welcomed the snowfall as & blanket protection against freezing. Air travel wan uninterrupted by the snow and cold. Northwest Airlines reported all planes on the dot. Pilots reported no trouble between here and the west coast Planes from the east said weather was "heavy," but not" ceiling all planes running on time. COLD WAVE Arctic blasts from the northwest rolled down behind the storm, threatening a new sub-zero wave from the Rocky mountains to the Atlantic coast, United Press reported. Highways in the Dakotas, Minnesota and in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska were blocked with snow. Sleet and freezing rain coated roads in seven states just south of the snow area. BELOW NORMAL Zero temperatures already extended into Wyoming and eastern Colorado. Denver, accustomed to mild winters, reported three degrees above zero. The storms struck just as most of the nation was recovering from the most bitter cold wave of the twentieth century. Temperatures still below seasonal averages will be far below normal by Wednesday morning, forecasters said. FOUR MAROONED Suffering from severe frostbite, four persons were marooned in three below zero weather near Tahoe City, Cal., when deep snow blocked the Lake Tahoe shore highway. They fought their way to a nearby lodge. Heavy winds which accompanied sharp drops in temperature in eastern Texas threatened damage to some of the hundreds of oil derricks at Gladwater, Tex. Many of the derricks are only a few feet from houses and business buildings and heavy property damage was feared. In the Texas Panhandle the mercury plummeted from the 60's to the 20's. In Iowa, where an acute coal shortage has threatened hundreds of shivering families for a week, snow and zero temperatures meant further suffering. Side roads to many of the 500 soft coal mines in the state were rapidly drifting with snow. Coal mined in overtime operations last Saturday met the need of only the most urgent cases of families on relief, K.G. Carney, president of the Iowa Coal Operators' association, said. Rural schools in northern Iowa were closed early yesterday to permit children to reach their homes before drifts halted traffic. Concern was felt for farm families isolated with scanty fuel supplies.
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