A cold storm from the Great Basin arrived in Southern California early Thursday, bringing strong Santa Ana winds that quickly exceeded 70 and 80 mph in some areas, downing trees, knocking out power and creating traffic disruptions across the area. region.
Winds in at least two places in the San Gabriel Mountains and foothills reached 80 mph early Thursday: along the Magic Mountain Truck Trail near Santa Clarita and near the end of Haven Avenue north of Rancho Cucamonga, with gusts of the latter reaching 82 mph, according to Alex. Tardy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.
North of Highway 118 in the northern San Fernando Valley, wind speeds reached 74 mph in Browns Canyon early Thursday, and east of Cajon Pass near Cloudland Truck Trail they reached 77 mph, according to the National Weather Service .
South of Yosemite National Park, near the North Fork, a wind gust reached 95 mph early Thursday, officials said.
Tardy said winds were expected to peak around 11 a.m. Thursday, although high wind warnings would remain in effect in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties through Thursday evening. Across the Sierra Nevada and Kern County, a high wind warning would be in effect through Friday morning. Authorities across the region warned of winds of 25 to 65 mph, with gusts up to 75 mph.
“Winds this strong can down trees and power lines, causing property damage or power outages,” the warnings said. “Crosswinds can make driving difficult, especially for drivers of high-profile vehicles and vehicles with trailers.”
By early morning, those warnings were spreading across the South.
The Sierra Madre Police Department responded early Thursday to multiple downed trees and power lines, the agency reported, and in Burbank, police responded to a large tree that fell on a home, although no one was injured. In Pasadena, the fire department was working to move two large trees that were blocking neighborhood roads.
In Fontana, K-CAL News reported that winds toppled a truck on the 210 Freeway.
As of 11 a.m., Southern California Edison was responding to more than 100 outages, primarily in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, affecting more than 16,000 customers, according to the utility's outage map.
The weather service warned that some of the strongest gusts, reaching up to 90 mph, were expected below and along the slopes of Cajon Pass and in the coastal foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District also issued a windblown dust advisory for Riverside and San Bernardino counties, particularly in the Coachella and eastern San Bernardino valleys.
