WHITE CHRISTMAS ABOVE THE PASSES

People hoping for a White Christmas will have to go to the higher elevations this year. Jim Anderson at the National Weather Service in Hanford says they expect the snow level in the Kern County Mountains to stay above 55-hundred feet, but it’s “very possible” for the snow to make it a little bit lower. “With pass levels about four-thousand feet for the Grapevine, that’s something we want to watch, especially around the holiday period.” Snow dropping much lower than expected closed the Grapevine on December 6th, and numerous crashes on Hwy 58 also made for slow going through Tehachapi. There are also weather advisories in other parts of the Southland, and snow levels to the north of us will be lower because it will be colder. Wind Advisories are posted from 9pm Christmas Eve to 9:00 Christmas Night in the Kern County Mountains and deserts, with gusts possible to 60mph or greater.

Suzanne Grant