SNOW PREDICTED IN ANTELOPE VALLEY.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Snow is possible today and Sunday in the Antelope Valley, the National Weather Service says.

A cold winter storm that originated in the Gulf of Alaska could drop snow tonight as low as 2,500 to 3,000 feet - meaning over much of the Antelope Valley. Briefly at times tonight and Sunday, heavy showers could fall as low as 2,000 feet, the weather service said.

``That's a very good possibility at this point in time, due to the cold nature of the storm,'' weather service spokesman Bill Hoffer said.

The weather service issued a winter storm watch warning of possibly hazardous weather through tonight for the Antelope Valley, east Kern County, the San Gabriel and Tehachapi Mountains, and the mountains of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Depending on the amount of moisture that it pulls out of the Pacific Ocean, the storm carries the potential of dropping up to six inches of snow in Southern California mountains and one to two inches in the Antelope Valley, forecasters said.

Downtown Palmdale is about 2,700 feet in elevation, central Lancaster about 2,400 feet and Pearblossom about 3,100 feet.

``The higher you go, the more you are going to get into it,'' Hoffer said.

Even at 3,000 feet, snowfall could snarl traffic on the Antelope Valley Freeway, whose highest point between Acton and Agua Dulce is more than 3,200 feet.

Snow was already falling Friday afternoon on Interstate 5, which tops 4,100 feet in the Tejon Pass.

Caltrans' and the California Highway Patrol's first priority in a snowstorm is keeping Interstate 5 open, with the Antelope Valley Freeway a secondary priority and canyon roads such as Bouquet Canyon last in priority, CHP Lt. Andria Witmer said.

Travelers should be prepared in advance and know how high of elevations they'll be crossing, Witmer said.

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(color) Clouds form over the desert near Barrel Springs Road in Palmdale on Friday. The National Weather Service predicts snow in the Antelope Valley tonight.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer