Wednesday,  Dec. 04, 2013 • Vol. 16--No. 141 • 13 of 28

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feet of snow in the mountains and in Yellowstone National Park.
• Snow and ice created hazardous driving conditions throughout the West, and were a factor in a four-vehicle crash in central Montana that killed 21-year-old Chelsea Stanfield of Great Falls. Authorities said Stanfield was driving too fast for the conditions.
• The weather also closed a stretch of Interstate 90 on Tuesday between Sheridan and Buffalo, Wyo. In eastern Oregon, authorities closed much of Interstate 84 as trucks jackknifed in the snow. Transportation authorities in Utah and Nevada reported dozens of crashes.
• In the Dakotas, cattle ranchers who lost thousands of animals in an October blizzard were bracing for the latest wintry weather, with wind chills of 40 degrees below zero expected by week's end.
• Cattle should be able to withstand the harsh conditions better than they did the Oct. 4 blizzard, said Julie Ellingson, executive vice president of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association.
• "Cattle are a hardy species; they can endure a lot," she said. "With that October storm, they didn't have their winter hair coat yet. They've acquired some of that extra hair that will help insulate them better."
• The cold was expected to keep pushing south and bring near-record low temperatures to parts of California. Citrus famers in the Central Valley checked wind machines and ran water through their fields in anticipation of temperatures at or below freezing Tuesday night, followed by even colder weather on Saturday.
• However, farmers should not panic, said Bob Blakely of California Citrus Mutual, a trade association. Cold weather can be good for the crops, he said.
• "Trees and fruits need some of that cold weather to harden off and prepare for late December and January," he said.
• The system was pushing south, and Texans enjoying balmy 80-degree days should be seeing temperatures in the 40s by Thursday, Kines said.
• The cold air is expected to linger until next week then move east, where it will bring less-drastic temperature changes, he said.

School group appreciates governor's budget plan

• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- The head of an association representing South Dakota's school boards says Gov. Dennis Daugaard's proposed increase in state aid to schools is a step in the right direction, but school officials hope the Legislature will give school districts even more money.
• State law requires that aid to school districts increase each year by the rate of in

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