It took all the region's wind turbines offline for about five hours and it expects to continue to pull the plug on them for a few hours almost every night until well into July, when enough snow in the Cascades and northern Rockies will have melted for the excess run-off (and therefore the excess power) to subside.

ECONOMIST: Teething troubles in the clean-energy sector

What will happen when the sun finally comes out and the snow stops and the ice melts and the whole landscape is transformed into spring and stuff is blooming and farmers are running their gigantic combines up and down the long rows?

NEWYORKER: Indianapolis (Highway 74)

When the Snow Queen arrives at the end of Act I, the tiara the dancer wears will be readily recognizable to local audiences: It's based on an architectural landmark, the distinctive arch that sits atop the downtown skyscraper where the Great American Insurance Group is headquartered.

WSJ: Nutcracker Inc.

But it first attracted wide public attention in 2001 when Professor Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University forecast that Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) will have lost its famous snow-capped peak by 2015 if current predictions on global warming are maintained.

UNESCO: 83e