Rare Strong winds

[Turvy]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...5c6251f4e0eb3ad

 

The most powerful winds to tear across California in nearly 15 years [...]

 

The National Weather Service called Southern California's winds Wednesday night a once-in-a-decade event and it's not over. Winds were expected to pick up again Thursday night though they won't be as fierce.

 

In the mountains, winds were expected to gust up to 65 mph into Friday morning and 50 mph in the valleys.

 

High wind warnings and advisories were also issued for Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico. The blustery weather is expected to eventually hit Oklahoma, Missouri and Indiana.

 

The storms were the result of a dramatic difference in pressure between a strong, high-pressure system and a cold, low-pressure system, meteorologists said. This funnels strong winds down mountain canyons and slopes.

 

The winds reached 123 mph at a ski resort northwest of Denver and topped 102 mph in Utah.

 

California, however, was the hardest hit, with more than 200,000 utility customers without power. The gusts were blamed for toppling semitrailers and causing trees to fall on homes, apartment complexes and cars.

 

In some neighborhoods, concrete light poles cracked in half. Darkened traffic signals and fallen palm tree fronds and branches snarled traffic. At a Shell station, the roof collapsed into a heap of twisted metal.

 

"It was a terrifying ride for me, coming here in pitch dark ... and watching motorists take no notice of lights being out," said Bob Spencer, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

 

The last time that Southern California was battered by such intense winds was in January 2007 when similarly high gusts toppled trees and made a mess.

 

[...]

 

On a street around the corner, almost every tree was either cracked in half or missing limbs.

 

Elsewhere, Daphne Bell, a 30-year Pasadena resident, said she was kept awake by howling wind. "This is the worst, the absolute worst. There were times it sounded like a freight train was roaring down my driveway," she said

 

Similar stories of downed trees and power lines echoed across the West, where winds in some areas ripped storefront awnings, filled gutters with debris and forced school closures.

 

High winds ripped through Utah, overturning several semi-trucks on or near Interstate 15, and 54,000 customers were without power along the state's 120-mile Wasatch Front as high winds took down power lines.

 

Police asked schools to close in Centerville, where a 102-mph gust was reported. Mail delivery and trash pickup were cancelled.

 

In Nevada, weather officials warned that blowing dust was creating visibility problems on a highway that guides drivers between Reno and Las Vegas.

 

In Steamboat Springs, Colo., the roof of a four-story condominium complex was blown off and about 100 trees were knocked over, some landing on homes. A ski area shut down its lifts after a gust of 123 mph.

 

Even some weather experts were surprised by the wind's force.

 

"It's one of the strongest events that I can remember," said Brian Edwards, a meteorologist with Accuweather. "It's rather rare."

 

Copyright ? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Malaphax]

[Jedi2155]

Jeez...my boss stayed at home today as he loss power to his home in Pasadena.

[Turvy]

@pic: Shallow roots.

 

Where I live, most of the trees lost limbs and the palm trees lost their outer sheath. Only the small trees and potted miniature trees were uprooted or broke out of their pot.

 

Most of us still have power tho I've heard that the elementary school nearby closed down yesterday.