WIND FACTOR CHILLS COMMUTE LOW VISIBILITY LEADS TO 3-CAR COLLISION.

Byline: Daily News

LANCASTER - Winds gusting faster than 50 mph blew dust clouds across the Antelope Valley on Monday and led to a three-car chain-reaction collision on the Antelope Valley Freeway.

As dust blowing off the new Antelope Valley Fairgrounds reduced visibility to less than 15 feet for a few minutes on the Antelope Valley Freeway north of Avenue H, one car rear-ended another that had slowed down because of the dust, then was hit by an SUV, California Highway Patrol officials said.

A 60-year-old Mojave woman driving the first car that was hit suffered a cut on her forehead and her 64-year-old passenger complained of neck and back pain, CHP officials said. They were taken to a hospital.

The drivers of the second car and the SUV were not injured, CHP officials said.

Winds were clocked Monday morning at up to 51 mph at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve west of Lancaster, and to more than 40 mph at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale and Fox Airfield in Lancaster, the National Weather Service said.

Minutes before the 9:33 a.m. freeway crash, a motorist had telephoned the CHP to report that the area was ``a total whiteout.'' The dust dispersed quickly, officials said.

The National Weather Service, which issued a wind advisory for the Antelope Valley, warned that visibility could drop to a quarter-mile from blowing sand and dust. But no other crashes were reported due to poor visibility, CHP and sheriff's officials said.

The Weather Service predicted continued windy weather today, with west winds at 25 to 35 mph and stronger gusts. Winds on Wednesday will remain at 20 to 30 mph.

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Photo:

(color) Firefighters and paramedics tend to an accident victim Monday on the southbound Antelope Valley Freeway.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer