SNOW TAKES OVER TRAFFIC DELAYS DRIVERS.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A cold winter storm dropped snow onto the Antelope Valley foothills, snarling both morning and afternoon commuter traffic Friday on the Antelope Valley Freeway.

Southbound traffic backed up for miles before 7 a.m. because of the morning snow around Agua Dulce and Acton, and at midafternoon the freeway traffic was traveling at only 15 to 20 mph, drivers and officials said.

``It's wet, and traffic is bumper to bumper, but people are trying to come home early so it's getting kind of congested,'' California Highway Patrol Officer Scott Weldy said Friday afternoon. ``It's really nothing new to the A.V. Freeway.''

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford was among the motorists caught in the Friday morning traffic jam.

Ledford said he left his eastside home at 6:30 a.m., thinking he had plenty of time to make a 9 a.m. meeting in Los Angeles, but found the weather would not cooperate.

``It took me a half-hour to get from my home to the freeway,'' Ledford said. ``At Vincent Hill it was snowing, and it was getting worse. It took me an hour to get to Acton. I said forget it and turned around.''

CHP officers shut down Bouquet Canyon Road because of heavy snowfall, but no other closures were reported by late afternoon.

The number of crashes reported throughout the valley was about the average, with no direct link between weather conditions and the collisions, officials said.

Wet snow mixed with rain on the valley floor Friday. Near Wrightwood in the Angeles National Forest, the CHP reported that four to five inches of snow covered the roads before noon.

The National Weather Service predicted rain and the possibility of snow through today. The snow level was expected to drop to 2,500 feet - the altitude of downtown Palmdale - by late Friday.

By Sunday, the chance of showers is about 20 percent, the Weather Service said, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures ranging from highs in the upper 40s to mid-50s and lows in the upper 20s to mid-30s.

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Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Above, A lone hiker Friday morning passes through rugged terrain dusted with snow after a storm broke over Vasquez Rocks County Park the previous night. At left, traffic opens up after the morning rush hour Friday along the Antelope Valley Freeway at Escondido Canyon Road. The National Weather Service has predicted rain and possible snow through today. Snow level was expected to drop to 2,500 feet - the altitude of downtown Palmdale. Weekend weather is expected to be warmer with a 20 percent chance of showers Sunday, when the National Weather Service predicts only partly cloudy skies.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer