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U.S. West faces winter storm

NEW YORK, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Better weather started to arrive for the eastern and middle United States Christmas Day while the West faced an intensifying winter storm.

Christmas dawned white in the Northwest and the Rockies, but the East and the Midwest enjoyed a respite from the nasty weather that contributed to messy travel conditions Christmas Eve, AccuWeather.com reported Thursday.

A strong Pacific winter storm was headed for the Rockies Thursday night and the Plains Friday. Snowfall of 12 to 24 inches fell on California's Sierra Nevada and a similar amount was expected in Utah and the Colorado Rockies late Thursday into Friday morning.

The snowfall could be accompanied by strong winds causing white-out conditions continuing into Friday.

A state of emergency was in effect in Washington state, where snow was giving way to rain and the threat of urban flooding.

Parts of the Midwest were likely to get black ice Christmas night but lake effect snow in the Great Lakes region was expected to abate Thursday night.

Temperatures in the southern and central Plains were expected to be about 10 degrees above normal, with possible record-breaking warmth -- as high as the 60s -- expected in the Ohio Valley and the Washington-Baltimore area through Saturday.

Emergency officials in Washington state asked able-bodied residents to help clear storm drains to relieve the chance of flooding.

Housing officials urged people to clear their flat-roofed homes, garages and commercial buildings, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

"But I don't think we'll see wholesale collapses of apartment buildings or anything unless we get an unbelievable amount of water," Snohomish County home inspector Darrell Hay said.

Boat owners were warned to watch for possible sinking as rain poured down on accumulated snow. Ecology spill responder Zach Gaston urged people to sweep off the snow since "we're seeing many boats, covered in snow, riding low in the water."

As much as 30 inches of snow fell in the state in recent days and another foot was expected in eastern Washington during the weekend, the Seattle Times reported. Gov. Christine Gregoire declared a state of emergency to make National Guard troops available if they're needed.

Santa kills at least 6, then himself

COVINA , Calif., Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A gunman dressed as Santa opened fire on a suburban Los Angeles holiday party, killing at least six people before killing himself, police said Thursday.

Three people at the party were unaccounted for late Thursday afternoon as coroner's office personnel searched the ruins of the house, which the gunman set on fire during the Wednesday night assault, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The gunman, identified by witnesses as Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, used an accelerant in setting the fire at the home, which is owned by his ex-wife's parents, the newspaper said. Several hours after the assault, Pardo was found dead -- apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot -- at his home in Sylmar, Calif., about 25 miles from the scene of the killings.

Police said at least 30 people were at the home for the Christmas Eve party. Three people, ages 8, 13 and 16, were injured in the assault at the house party and taken to hospitals.

Covina Police Chief Kim Rainey said Pardo knocked on the front door of the home 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and when an 8-year-old girl answered the door Pardo shot her in the face. He then entered the house and started firing a semiautomatic handgun, police said.

Pardo then sprayed a flammable substance around before setting the fire.

Pardo had been recently divorced and may have lost his job, the Times said. Police and acquaintances said he had worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry.

Covina Police Lt. Pat Buchanan said none of the dead had been identified by Thursday afternoon, noting that the bodies had been badly burned. Pardo's ex-wife and her parents had not been accounted for and were among the missing or dead, police said.

Gasoline prices drop for 6th day

NEW YORK, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. gasoline prices dropped Thursday for a sixth straight day, the motorist club AAA said.

The organization's survey of credit card swipes at filling stations determined that the average price for a gallon of self-serve unleaded gasoline was $1.648 -- the lowest in almost five years -- CNNMoney.com reported.

The figure was down 0.7 cents from Wednesday, AAA said. It was the lowest national average since Feb. 20, 2004.

Americans are cutting back on driving even though gasoline costs almost $2.50 less per gallon than it did when it reached record high this summer. From November 2007 through October 2008, U.S. drivers rolled up 100 billion fewer miles than during the same 12-month period a year ago, Department of Transportation records indicate.

Gasoline prices have fallen 60 percent since July 17, when they hit a record-high $4.114.

The cheapest gas Thursday was in Utah, at an average price of $1.463. The most expensive gas, on average, was in Alaska at $2.591.

NTSB probes fatal gas blast in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate an explosion that killed one man and destroyed a house in Sacramento, officials said.

The Wednesday morning blast killed Wilbert Paana, 72, and left five people injured, two of them critically, The Sacramento Bee reported Thursday.

Pacific Gas and Electric crews had been called in to search for the source of a natural gas leak Wednesday morning, after residents called beginning Tuesday night to complain about the odor of gas in the area. A PG&E spokesman said the crews could not shut off gas in an isolated area until they determined the exact location of the leak.

Paana and two other victims of the explosion were taken to UC Davis Medical Center with third-degree burns. Paana died Wednesday night.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Capt. Christian Pebbles said the explosion apparently was fueled by natural gas, but investigators were unsure what ignited it, the newspaper said.

Authorities returned to the area Thursday after getting new reports of a strong odor of gas, but a brief inspection concluded that the source of the odor was a leaking propane tank, the Bee reported.

The NSTB is taking over the investigation because the gas pipelines run beneath the streets, PG&E said.