A cruel storm hit on the first day of spring in the metropolitan area of Southern California. Mountainous areas were covered with snow while several other parts of the region were affected by heavy rain and strong winds on Sunday.

The winter storm warnings issued by the National Weather Service on Sunday were extended until midday of Monday for the mountainous areas of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

At the Bob Hope Airport, sixteen flights were cancelled and at least eight flights were diverted by the Southwest Airlines because of strong winds in Burbank on Sunday. Long delays were also experienced by other airlines, according to an airport spokesman.

Nearly 27 inches of snow covered the Pine Mountain Club located in Kern Country while Lockwood Valley were covered with 19 and ½ inches of snow, said weather specialist Stuart Seto of National Weather Service in Oxnard. The Ventura River is also expected to crest at midnight.

Power interruptions were also experienced by almost 60,000 homes, including many business establishments mostly outside of Los Angeles sand Orange Counties. Most of them were customers of Department of Water and Power, as well as California Edison.

Power interruptions were also experienced by almost 60,000 homes, including many business establishments, mostly outside of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. They were under the Department of Water and Power, as well as California Edison electricity supply company.

Road accidents were increased on Sunday because of slick roads, flooding and mudslides. However, there were no fatalities reported, according to Ed Jacobs, California Highway Patrol Officer.

Officials said several challengers who joined the 26th Los Angeles Marathon were brought to the hospital because of hypothermia.

Seto said another low-pressure system is expected to hit Los Angeles accompanied with more rain on Friday.

People looking for cheap airfares to travel this summer might need a bit of luck to find them. Currently, airlines are holding back their great deals and discounts durring most summer travel periods. However, they are already giving out astounding bargains for both international and domestic flights this spring.

Delta Air Lines offered the lowest cost for round trip tickets to some European cities last Tuesday. Taxes where even included in the $138 airfare. Within a few hours, the offer was gone. This led some experts to say it was an error in pricing.

Lufthansa also mistakenly priced its flights without fuel surcharges, according to George Hobica, the founder of airfarewatchdog.com, which is a travel advice website. Again, the low-priced fares did not last long.

Although some seat sales for spring flights are unexpected and difficult to find, most of them are rather easy to spot. Discounts for flight fares often occur from Tuesday until Thursday. In fact, Southwest Airlines and other airlines offered a $138 round trip flight to many U.S. destinations.

According to Tom Parsons from the travel website, BestFares.com, airlines usually promote a lot of sales. However, the discounts right now are limited to travel flights before the month of May. He said travelers should find an airline that will extend a sale into summer, and when they do, their credit cards should be ready.

The CEO of FareCompare.com, Rick Seaney said round trip fares are expected to increase to $250 since airlines are not yet giving discounts for summer trips. He said airlines usually give bargains three months before the start of summer vacation to measure the demand on travel.

Last summer, air fares rose as travel demand increased. Airlines strictly controlled the number of seats and flights. The Federal Aviation Administration predicts that more people will be travelling this year than last year.

A huge winter storm overwhelmed airports on Wednesday which caused airlines to cancel more than 6,000 flights for the second day in a row. They gave up all flights in or out of Chicago, where for a while the only plane that landed at O’Hare International brought the Blackhawks hockey team.

The airlines have canceled more than 13,000 flights in two days, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.com. The cancellations were focused at O’Hare, one of the most important air hubs in the nation.

The airlines’ decision to stop flying in Chicago waved out to airports situated around the country since even travelers who aren’t destined to go to Chicago catch connecting flights there on American or United, which use O’Hare as a hub.

Snow and ice hampered flights elsewhere too. Southwest Airlines Co. canceled some morning flights on Wednesday from Columbus, Ohio, and its entire morning of flights from Dallas.

There were 474 flights going in and out of Boston that were cancelled and 639 at New York LaGuardia, according to FlightAware. In total, there were 1,356 flights were scrubbed at the three large New York-area airports as a result of the ice and snow.

American Airlines was more troubled by a slowdown at its largest hub in Dallas after ice layered the runways on Tuesday. The sum of 1,600 cancellations by American, as well as regional partner American Eagle already added up to almost half of their schedule, spokesman Tim Smith said.

A charter flight bringing the hockey team Chicago Blackhawks landed around noon although most airlines stopped trying to fly by Tuesday night at O’Hare. Steve Kasteler said it is critical for the team to arrive home and rest.