SNOW TRIGGERS CLOSURES, CRASHES : EDWARDS, A.V. MALL SEND WORKERS HOME; HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS PREVAIL.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Antelope Valley's usual routine changed Wednesday with the arrival of an occasional - sometimes welcomed, sometimes dreaded - winter visitor: snow.

Thousands of children stayed away from school or got sent home early - and some adults did the same from their jobs, including workers at Edwards Air Force Base and the Antelope Valley Mall - as a Pacific storm brought an unexpected snowfall that arrived before dawn and kept up intermittently through the day.

Up to 2 inches of snow on the valley floor made driving a precarious proposition, and traffic officers predicted more driving problems even when the snowfall stopped.

``It's very wet snow, very wet. If you made a snow ball and hit somebody, you'd kill them,'' California Highway Patrol Officer Scott Weldy said. ``It's going to leave a lot of moisture content behind. If it does freeze later, we're going to have ice everywhere.''

The National Weather Service's forecast for today predicted partly cloudy skies with low temperatures in the low 30s, highs in low 50s and a 10 percent chance of rain.

The morning held a chance of snow, meteorologist Vladimir Ryshko said.

The Pacific storm responsible for Wednesday's snow was expected to clear out overnight, Ryshko said.

Slippery streets contributed Wednesday to more than a dozen crashes, including one that may have paralyzed a 58-year-old San Gabriel motorist. On the northbound Antelope Valley Freeway near Santiago Road in Acton, Ronald Gass' car slid out of control, hit a hillside and overturned.

Gass' sedan slid on the slippery pavement about 9:20 a.m. as he attempted to slow down because of the snow, officials said. Trapped in the wreckage until freed by firefighters, Gass told rescuers he had no feeling in his body from the neck down.

``He whacked himself pretty bad,'' Weldy said.

Gass was reported to be in serious but stable condition at Antelope Valley Hospital.

About 40 minutes earlier, four cars tangled near the same spot.

``One car had run off the road, and three others spun out trying to slow down,'' Weldy said.

Little snow was accumulating on the freeway as two snow plows were at work clearing roadways, but on Highway 58 between Tehachapi and Mojave, CHP officers escorted vehicles through in groups because of snow and ice on the pavement.

Sheriff's deputies reported about a dozen fender-bender traffic accidents on city streets by early afternoon.

``People are not really paying attention to what they're doing,'' Deputy W. Kiger said.

Fearing that dropping temperatures would turn slushy roads to ice, Edwards Air Force Base officials gave supervisors authority to send employees from outlying areas home in mid-afternoon.

Some 700 employees were sent home from the Antelope Valley Mall when all the shops except J.C. Penney and the Antelope Valley 10 Theaters shut their doors at 5 p.m., again in anticipation of worsening driving conditions.

In Leona Valley, Ranchers Market owner George Maida said Wednesday morning that two to three inches of snow was making life more difficult.

``Everybody talks about having a hard time getting up their driveways because it's icy,'' Maida said. ``They park at the bottom of the driveway and walk up the hill to the house.''

The snow prompted Antelope Valley College to cancel its spring registration and a game Wednesday night against Mount San Jacinto College, as well as classes at Fox Field and California State University, Bakersfield, and Cal State Northridge classes at the college.

The storm knocked out power to about 500 customers along Angeles Forest Highway south of Palmdale for about 45 minutes, Southern California Edison officials said.

Palmdale City Hall closed at 1:30 p.m., and the city canceled parks and recreations department classes, programs and activities.

Lancaster cityG officials said the snow never got deep enough to call out the municipal snow plows.

Districts that closed down schools or sent students home early included the Antelope Valley Union High School District, the Westside Union School District, the Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District, and the Keppel Union School District.

The 6,000-student Westside district never opened Leona Valley, Neenach and Del Sur schools, and then closed the remaining schools at 10:30 a.m., school transportation officials said.

``The storm kept coming in, and it was snowing heavily,'' said Hank Hooyerink, operations manager of the Antelope Valley Schools Transportation Agency. ``The superintendent decided to close the rest of the schools for the rest of the day. They were afraid it would get too deep out there.''

Hooyerink said bus drivers were reporting hazardous road conditions.

``It's dangerous with other traffic. The other traffic is going too fast,'' Hooyerink said. ``They keep driving like the roads are dry.''

In the Eastside, Lancaster and Palmdale districts, schools operated their normal hours, except Palmdale officials opted not to run the afternoon session of kindergarten, affecting some 1,100 pupils. They called parents to let them know.

Attendance at the Palmdale schools varied from campus to campus, with at least one school, the Learning Plaza, reporting half its normal enrollment.

``We have parents who elected to keep their children at home,'' Superintendent Nancy Smith said.

At the Wilsona School District, one kindergarten class was dismissed a half-hour early, and other students were sent home about 15 minutes earlier than usual.

Keppel Union School District officials closed Pearblossom School at noon. At other other Keppel schools, students were let go at the regular time or a little bit earlier, officials said.

SNOW DRIVING TIPS

Make sure your car's antifreeze is fresh, your fuel tank is full and your windshield wipers in good condition.

Check tirGe pressures, since underinflated tires are more prone to hydroplaning - skidding over the moisture on pavement. Slight overinflation is best because it opens the tread grooves and allows moisture to drain away.

Drive gently. Accelerate slowly, anticipate stops by starting your braking well ahead of normal, and take it easy around turns.

Slow down.

ANTELOPE VALLEY SNOW

Snowfall totals as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, in inches

Downtown Palmdale: 2

Downtown Lancaster: 1

Quartz Hill: 1

West Lancaster: 2

East Lancaster: 1

Lake Hughes: 3

Pearblossom: 1 to 2

Edwards AFB: 1.5

Source: County fire station and other unofficial government estimates

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, 2 Boxes

Photo: (1-2--Color) Desert Rose Elementary School's crossing guard Delores Mejia, above, leads students across 27th Street East as snow falls in Palmdale on Wednesday. A 58-year-old San Gabriel man, right, was injured when his car slid out of control on the northbound Antelope Valley Freeway north of Santiago Road in Acton.

(3--Color) Victoria Castro, 11, teaches her 2-year-old sister, Samantha, how to make snowballs in the front yard of their Palmdale home.

(4) Deputy District Attorney Pam Springer takes a picture of the District Attorney Bureau of Family staff as they pose in the snow infront of their Palmdale Boulevard building. Throughout the Antelope Valley, the snow prompted school and business closures.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News

Box: (1) SNOW DRIVING TIPS (See text)

(2) ANTELOPE VALLEY SNOW (See text)