California snow-bound highway reopens but storm snarls Thanksgiving travel

Interstate 5 through the Grapevine area, a mountain pass, was shut down in both directions early on Thursday morning and the California Highway Patrol said on Twitter it was working to clear stuck vehicles as snow kept falling. The highway, a major artery connecting Southern California to the rest of the state, was reopened later in the day, although more snow and rain were still forecast. The winter storm was expected to bring heavy snow in the mountains and high winds across much of the Western United States before moving toward the Great Plains late on Friday, the National Weather Service said.