If you're dreaming of a white Christmas — and you're willing to drive a little — Mother Nature just might deliver this year.

Forecasters say it could snow in area mountains over the weekend, and that accumulations are likely to survive through Sunday morning. “If you live up in Big Bear, it's a good bet,” says National Weather Service meteorologist Philip Gonsalves.

Just how much white stuff the San Bernardino Mountains will see is still a guessing game. The problem is that cold air will follow Saturday's storm, lowering the snow level just as clearing increases. The overlap is unknown, Gonsalves said. In a forecast, the National Weather Service said a winter weather advisory for snowy conditions in the mountains was under consideration. Snow was possible through the Cajon Pass, too, federal forecasters said.

“I think we will get some snow accumulation if the cold air filters in early enough in the cycle of the system, but it's hard to say,” Gonsalves said.

Mountains even closer to Los Angeles, the San Gabriel range, could see snow levels drop as low as 4,000 feet Saturday night, said NWS weather specialist Tom Fischer. “This will bring a chance of winter driving conditions over mountain passes, including the Interstate 5 corridor near the Grapevine, with slick roads and low visibilities in blowing snow,” according to a Weather Service statement.

The storm will head into Greater Los Angeles from the north and west Friday afternoon and evening, Fischer said. (A warmer, separate front from the southwest could bring slight chance of showers to the area Thursday morning, too.)

Friday's storm will move fast and be out of town by Saturday afternoon, Fischer said. Before the storm leaves, however, it could bring a half inch to an inch of rain to parts of the L.A. Basin, he said. High temperatures will be cool — in the upper 50s — on Saturday, Fischer said.

It will be “cool and breezy Christmas Eve and Day,” according to the NWS. Sounds just right.

Credit: NWS

Credit: NWS

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