Saskatchewan Screamer Reaches East;Patrick Takes Daytona Pole

A late winter storm,the Saskatchewan Screamer,has reached the East coast,giving Connecticut five inches of snow and knocking power out.It had been moving across Colorado and the Dakotas,where it left more than nine inches of snow.It then dropped hail on Georgia and high winds on Alabama,where it ripped off a school roof while 62 children were inside,but escaped unhurt.
Winds from the Saskatchewan Screamer could top 50 mph,or 80 kmh,this weekend,threatening more power lines and disrupting air travel.At 5:16 pm,the Screamer's winds were noted arriving on the Maryland/Pennsylvania border.They were noticeable,but not catastrophic at that point.Winds could reach up to 60 mph,or 96 kmh.
Danica Patrick came back from crashing Thursday to win the pole position on Friday for Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.She was in her backup car after hitting the wall,caught up in someone else's crash the day before.Patrick is the first woman to take the pole at a NASCAR race since Shawna Robinson in 1994.In the Sprint Series Daytona 500 on Sunday,Patrick will start in 29th position out of 43 because of Thursday's crash.She left Indy car racing to concentrate on stock cars this year,having been the first woman to win an Indy car race and achieved a third place finish at the Indy 500-the best ever by a female driver at that event.
The stock market logged a slight gain for the week,with the S&P 500 Index gaining 0.33%.Volume was extremely light as traders hesitated in the face of headwinds such as the Iranian crisis and a drop in new home sales.
Next week,the calendar has many data points to contemplate,such as durable goods orders,auto sales,the GDP reading,and manufacturing numbers from the Institute for Supply Management.There will also be a European Union summit on Thursday.The S&P futures rose 0.40 Friday evening,and longer maturity bond index futures gained as well.
Update:Danica Patrick finished 38th after being bumped by another car in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Daytona,having started in the pole position.She will start in 29th out of 43 in Sunday's big Sprint Series Daytona 500 race.The Sprint Series is the major NASCAR racing series.
The Saskatchewan Screamer left property damage from Ohio to Pennsylvania.In Prince George's County,Maryland,seven firefighters were burned when high winds from the Screamer caused a fireball to form while they were fighting a house fire.The oxygen in the wind literally ignited during the house fire.Two of the firefighters were severely burned by it.
Update 2:The Daytona 500 was postponed because of rain.They will try again Monday at noon,but there is more rain in the forecast.
Update 3:Now they will attempt to start the Daytona 500 at 7:02 Monday night.Fox Sports will broadcast starting at 7:00.If it is still raining then,they will consider Tuesday.All the teams have to leave for Phoenix,Arizona by Thursday for this weekend's race there.