Winter Weather

A woman in western Minnesota captured "ice pancakes" floating along a river on New Year’s Day. 

The storm claimed a life in Kansas when an elderly woman died in a crash along a snowy state highway on Christmas evening.

Near-zero visibility, blowing snow and high winds have led to crashes and closed roads in the northern Plains.

The FOX Forecast Center said computer forecast models show no major snowstorms in the final days before Christmas.

Meteorological winter, which runs from Dec. 1 to Feb. 29, has started off quite mild.

There are no signs of any arctic air masses invading the country until at least January, resulting in a considerable shortage of snow in many major cities across the nation.

Temperatures are 20-30 degrees above average for this time of year. The heat pushed opening back weeks for Utah and Minnesota parks. The entire warm pocket pushes east for the weekend.

Old Man Winter is making his grand debut. Freezing temps are expected to affect every state by early Wednesday.

An auto expert weighs in on the highly-debated, common practice among drivers.

While there is no national law against idling a vehicle, some states have anti-idling laws to prevent air pollution. The punishment and exact anti-idling measures vary from state to state, and even city or county, with penalties ranging from fines to written warnings.

Frost flowers happen in late fall after a few hard freezes and while the ground is still warm. They don't stick around for long, disappearing on the day they show up, melting away like frost in the warm air or sunlight.

In 1692 and 1693, the Salem witch trials were held in northeastern Massachusetts and led to the prosecution of more than 150 people.

Overall winter heating prices are expected to be flat or a little cheaper than last year, but it depends on where you live and what you use to heat your home.

El Niño is in place heading into winter for the first time in four years,

El Nino years tend to be cooler and stormy for the South, drier and warmer for Northwest, and very wet for the West.

In February, vast amounts of snow closed roads into the park and made some facilities inaccessible. Now, the meltwater from that same snow is pouring into Yosemite Valley, forcing the park service to close most of the park by Friday night.

It's only the fourth time in 15 years the water has been strong enough to create the falls.