SNOW BLANKETS VALLEY SOME KIDS GET DAY OFF SCHOOL.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The brief but powerful storm that blanketed the Antelope Valley with as much as four inches of snow closed schools and blocked roads from Canyon Country to just above Mojave.

The California Highway Patrol closed the northbound lanes of the Antelope Valley Freeway at Sand Canyon in Newhall and the westbound lanes of Highway 58 at Mojave for just over an hour early Monday because of heavy deposits of ice and snow conditions.

``It surprised a lot of people,'' CHP Sgt. Steve Huntsaker said of the storm. ``It didn't really cause any major problems. We just had to watch the ice. That's why we shut down (Highway) 58: a lot of ice.''

Children and staff alike took the day off at Acton, Hughes-Elizabeth Lake and Tehachapi schools because of ice and snow. St Mary's School in Palmdale canceled classes Monday morning after more than half of the pupils stayed home.

``The main roads were frozen over, and there was a significant amount of ice,'' said Don Banderas, superintendent of the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District. ``Since we bus 60 percent of our students, we didn't want to take the chance. We have to send our buses on those frozen roads and we have some interesting terrain out here.''

Buses for the Lancaster and Palmdale school districts ran as scheduled, and no problems were reported even with the powder still on the ground as children headed for school.

Snow flurries and ``black ice'' - invisible sheets of ice on the pavement - were blamed for a number of minor collisions, including two on Highway 58 near Mojave and at least three on the Antelope Valley Freeway between Rosamond and Lancaster. All were single-car accidents with minor or no injuries.

The National Weather Service predicted today's Antelope Valley weather to be partly cloudy and breezy with low temperatures in the 30s and highs in the mid to upper 40s. Wednesday and Thursday will be partly cloudy with a chance of showers and lows in the 30s and highs in the upper 40s or low 50s, forecasters said.

Friday is expected to be partly cloudy and breezy with lows in the 30s and highs in the mid-50s.

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Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Ricky Czarapata, 3, above, tries to pick up a snowball nearly half his size Monday morning in Palmdale, where a snowstorm brought nearly an inch of the white stuff to the area. Within a few hours, only a few patches of snow were left near Vista Point in Palmdale, but some schoolchildren got a day off after district officials decided not to risk buses on icy-slick roadways.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News