American Notes LOS ANGELES

Ah, Los Angeles. Sunshine, palm trees, snowballs. Snowballs? Yep -- and kids whooshing down snow-covered hills on skateboards, while cars skidded on icy roads. During one magical day last week, as much as a foot of the white stuff fell across a four-county area in Southern California. Local children got a % rare glimpse of what Northerners mean by winter. Debbie Uyeno and her family built a snowman in their front yard and even piled flakes into the hot tub. "I don't ever remember snow," said Debbie, 12. "It was fun." Not for everybody. More than 10,000 customers lost electrical power, and drifts forced the closing of parts of Interstate 5, California's main north-south artery, causing monumental traffic jams. The unusual weather left thousands of vacationers moping in Palm Springs and did frost damage to citrus groves and flowers scheduled to be picked for Valentine's Day. By the next day, though, most of the snow had melted, disappearing as suddenly as it had arrived. Maybe it was all just a special effect.