Snowy holidays, round two
More wintry weather hits; person killed in collision
PALMDALE — The Antelope Valley missed having a white Christmas by less than an hour as snow fell early Thursday morning and continued to fall throughout the day.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Antelope Valley about 1:45 p.m. Thursday for additional snow accumulations of between three to six inches with total accumulations up to 10 inches in the foothills and three to six inches on the Valley floor.
The winter storm warning was in effect until 10 p.m. Thursday, weather service meteorologist Tom Fisher said.
“The snow should start to slowly taper off this evening, with the snow gone by about 10 p.m.,” Fisher said. “However, the winds will shift around to the North. It will be quite gusty at times, maybe up to 30, 35 miles an hour. Snow will stop, wind will pick up.”
Temperatures were expected to remain in the lower 30s. The skies were expected to clear today into Sunday with measurable precipitation expected to come back Monday, Fisher said.
Most of the storms this time of the year come from the Gulf of Alaska.
“When they come down fast, they don’t have time to moderate the air,” Fisher said. “The Pacific Ocean would slightly mellow out the really sharply cold air, but if they come down fast it doesn’t have time to do that, and that’s when you get these really cold systems.”
One person was killed and two others were critically injured in a late afternoon collision involving a vehicle and a big rig on State Route 138 at 90th Street West in the unincorporated community of Antelope Acres.
The fatally injured victim was pronounced dead at the scene of the 4:30 p.m. crash. One of the two surviving victims had to be cut out of the wreckage, and both were transported to a trauma center, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Highway 138 was shut down in both directions in the vicinity of the crash.
City of Lancaster closed City Hall and other City facilities early Thursday due to the inclement weather for the safety of residents and staff. Normal business
hours will resume today.
“The City’s Public Works crews will continue to plow and monitor street conditions,” a City release said.
Snow closed Interstate 5 over the Grapevine in Gorman and Highway 58 through Tehachapi.
Caltrans officials said they hoped to have Highway 58 opened sometime Thursday evening.
Edwards Air Force Base authorized an early end to the work day for all employees at the base and Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. All base functions closed at 1 p.m. due to the weather.
Waste Management announced it would pick up trash scheduled for collection on Thursday in Palmdale, but recycling and green waste would not be collected until next week.
Palmdale had its six Public
Works trucks equipped with snowplows out clearing the main roads starting at 2 a.m., City Manager J.J. Murphy said.
“Our guys are out there doing their best to cover a 100-square mile city,” he said, focusing on the main arterial roads.
While the Thanksgiving snow storm downed a number of trees in the city, Murphy said he had not yet heard of damages Thursday afternoon. A full assessment will be made following the storm.
The City of Palmdale’s administrative offices were already closed due to the holiday furlough, but the Palmdale Library also closed Thursday in deference to the inclement weather.