Late spring winds swept through Southern California over the weekend, fueling multiple wildfires while dashing the hopes of music festival-goers in Redondo Beach.
The forecast for Monday and Tuesday promises to bring more strong gusts in smaller areas of the region. That includes the Interstate 5 corridor near Grapevine and parts of Santa Barbara, according to the National Weather Service, with gusts projected to reach 40 to 50 mph overnight.
The Antelope Valley is also expected to receive wind gusts of up to 30 or 40 mph around the same time, according to forecasts.
A storm system brought cooler temperatures and light rain, along with formidable wind gusts, beginning Saturday in the region. While the winds were nothing to sneeze at, gusts are common in late spring.
“It was a pretty good wind event, but it wasn't what I would call a record,” said meteorologist David Gomberg of the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Gusts reached 68 mph at a weather station in the mountains east of Cajon Pass, 55 mph on Santa Barbara Island and 53 mph in Montecito Hills north of Santa Barbara during a 24-hour period beginning Saturday. according to the National Weather Service.
Widespread winds arrived with the weak storm front that moved through the region, Gomberg said.
The timing was unfortunate for fans of My Morning Jacket and Courtney Barnett, whose performances at the BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach were canceled along with the rest of the event's third day due to the “severe wind event that put the general public at risk.” “. organizers said in a Facebook post. Fans were able to attend the shows on Friday and Saturday, where Sting and Incubus were among the performers.
“While we took extraordinary measures to keep our fans, staff and artists safe, and although none of our structures or systems failed, the winds quickly reached very dangerous speeds and we prioritized safety,” organizers said in their post.
The wind did not discriminate with its ruin.
High winds toppled scaffolding four to five stories high over a set of power lines in the 1000 block of North St. Andrews Place in Hollywood on Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The scaffolding was placed against a building but was blown away by the wind at around 2pm, forcing emergency services to divert traffic and pedestrians from the area.
No injuries were reported when firefighters responded to the scene and no one was on the scaffolding during the incident, according to the fire department.
LAFD firefighters also had to respond to a quarter-acre brush fire fanned by persistent winds in North Hollywood shortly before 3 p.m. near Highway 170 at Burbank Boulevard. Firefighters were able to contain and extinguish the fire within 25 minutes, LAFD said.
Approximately 30 minutes later, firefighters responded to reports of a brush fire in the Sepulveda Basin in the 6100 block of North Woodley Avenue. Dry vegetation burned near an archery range, forcing employees and customers to temporarily leave the area; Firefighters put out the fire in about 70 minutes, LAFD said in a news alert. The flames were fanned by wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph, according to the fire department.
Starting Wednesday, Southern California will see a light offshore event bringing northerly and northeasterly winds to Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The winds will bring “very light and windy conditions,” Gomberg said. Those winds will be combined with lower humidity and warmer temperatures, but thanks to recent rains, the region's vegetation should not become a major fire hazard, he said.
Southern Californians aren't the only ones who will have to battle headwinds. The National Weather Service in Sacramento warns drivers that gusty winds are expected starting Tuesday from Vacaville north to Redding. with a high chance of wind gusts reaching 40 mph.
No matter where drivers go during high wind events, Gomberg said, they should be on the lookout for downed branches, downed power lines and other wind-blown hazards in their general surroundings.
