VIOLENT WINDS TEAR THROUGH WESTERN U.S.

The powerful winds that tore across Western states on Dec. 1 created a path destruction that closed schools, left neighborhoods with a snarl of downed trees and power lines, and prompted some communities to declare emergencies

 A worker looks at a crushed car with the stump of the tree that fell on it and a broken light pole in the background in Ogden, Utah after a wind storm on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. High winds ripping through Utah have overturned several semi-trucks, knocked out power to more than 50,000 customers and prompted school closures. (AP

  A man looks at uprooted trees which have fallen on cars after a heavy wind storm in the morning at Highland Park in Los Angeles, California December 1, 2011. Offshore winds gusting as high as near 100 miles per hour left much of the Los Angeles area strewn with toppled trees and downed power lines on Thursday, slowing rush-hour traffic and knocking out electricity to over 300,000 customers. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

 A van parked in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles and another car are shown damaged by trees early Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011 as high winds up to 50 and 60 MPH tore through the southland. High winds flipped over trees and trucks and knocked out power to more than 300,000 California customers. (AP Photo/Mike Meadows).

A tree blown over by high winds lies across a crushed car on a Pasadena, Calif. street Thursday, Dec. 1,2011. High winds flipped over trees and trucks and knocked out power to more than 300,000 California customers before moving inland early Thursday, where schools in a Utah town closed because of 100 mph wind gusts. (AP Photo/John Antczak).