B-B-BUNDLE UP COLD FRONT MOVES IN BRISKLY, DRIVES OUT WARMTH.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - After a weekend of summer clothes and sun screen, Santa Clarita was on snow watch Wednesday as a cold front moved through.

The weekend's offshore shore breezes were replaced by Arctic winds, and temperatures in the area plummeted more than 30 degrees in just two days, said Bruce Rockwell, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

``It's unusual to have a great change like this in a relatively short time, but this just happens sometimes,'' Rockwell said.

The Santa Clarita Valley reached a balmy high of 79 degrees on Monday and was shivering in 46-degree weather by Wednesday afternoon. The snow level dipped to 1,000 feet, but a brief storm bypassed Santa Clarita.

The unseasonably warm temperatures were spawned by a ridge of high pressure that compressed and heated offshore air currents, Rockwell said.

In a radical change Wednesday, however, Arctic winds and a low pressure system swept into the area and sent temperatures plummeting to near-freezing in some areas.

Early morning rain Wednesday prompted California Highway Patrol officers concerned about icy roads to escort drivers through the Grapevine, and snow was reported in some areas Wednesday afternoon.

``We had an unusually warm trend followed by an unusually cold one, so overall, we're still average,'' Rockwell said.

Today's weather will continue sunny and brisk with winds of 20 to 30 mph and high temperatures near 50. The overnight lows will dip to the mid- 30s. Friday will see increasing clouds through the day with continued chilly weather.

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Photo:

(color) Dark clouds and cold temperatures cover the Santa Clarita Valley in a view looking northwest Wednesday from Copper Hill Drive.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer