Saturday, December 24, 2011

Gusty Santa Ana winds hit Southern California

A 100 year- old Pine Tree came down in the high winds this morning on Burritt Way near New York Av in LaCresenta, Ca. The tree, according to Glendale firefighters, who were there, before it came down, came down very slowly and gracefully, taking out a gas line and causing the evacuation of one or two homes. There were no injuries. (Photo by Mike Meadows)

LaCresenta, Ca 12-22-11 A 100 year- old Pine Tree came down in the high winds this morning on Burritt Way near New York Av in LaCresenta, Ca. The tree, according to Glendale firefighters, who were there, before it came down, came down very slowly and gracefully, taking out a gas line and causing the evacuation of one or two homes. There were no injuries. (Photo by Mike Meadows) (Mike Meadows)

The latest round of gusty winds to hit California toppled trucks and trees and fanned a small brush fire on Thursday.

Gusts of Santa Ana winds topped 70 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles, but by midafternoon the region had escaped without a repeat of the millions of dollars of damage and huge blackouts caused by hurricane-force blasts three weeks earlier.

The brush fire was reported in a rural foothill canyon area near Santa Paula, said Ventura County fire Capt. Ron Oatman.

The blaze, believed to have started in a grove of avocado trees, spread across 12 to 15 acres but was not threatening any homes, he said. Several fire trucks and bulldozers were dispatched.

The National Weather Service said the Santa Anas, generated by a strong high-pressure system over the Great Basin, would continue through today in Southern California, but no "red flag" warnings for fire danger would be issued because fuel conditions were not at critical levels.

Gusts faster than 70 mph were recorded at Warm Springs and Chilao in the Angeles National Forest.

Several tractor-trailers blew over on wind-prone routes in the inland region east of Los Angeles and video cameras recorded a huge tree in Glendale losing its hold on the earth and collapsing across a street. Another tree fell on a residential building in Santa Ana, KCAL Channel 9 reported.

Weather was also blustery in other parts of California.

During a Nov. 30 Southern California windstorm with gusts approaching 100 mph, trees were toppled, power poles and traffic light standards snapped, homes and cars were damaged, and electricity was cut to nearly 650,000 homes and business.

Most of that damage occurred east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley. No injuries were reported amid the blizzard of flying debris, but some homes lost power for a week, triggering complaints against utilities.

On Thursday, work crews were on standby in Pasadena, where the last windstorm covered nearly all of the 325 miles of city streets in debris that still is being cleared.

"It's a big, big job," city spokeswoman Ann Erdman said. "It's slow and steady. Crews continue to work night and day getting it done."

By early afternoon no damage had been reported.

"We're anticipating some gusts from time to time in Pasadena but they absolutely will not even begin to hold a candle to what happened here three weeks ago," Erdman said.

Still, she added, "we do encourage all our residents to be prepared, batten down the hatches."

Online:

Southern California Edison: www.sce.com/

www.Twitter.com/SoCalEdison

www.Facebook.com/SoCalEdison

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_19600381?source=rss_viewed

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