Powerful Santa Ana wind knocked down trees in soil softened by a deluge of recent rain, causing chaos in Southern California on Monday.
A massive tree collapsed on top of power lines in Moorpark shortly after 11 a.m. while the Southland was under a high wind advisory, with forecasters warning of dangerous gusts up to 85 mph.
The California Highway Patrol responded to the incident, closing State Route 118 westbound at Tierra Rejada Road and eastbound at Somis Road. The closure remained in effect as of 5:30 p.m.
In Orange County, fire crews also had a busy morning responding to wind-related incidents.
The Anaheim Fire and Rescue Department rescued two women after a palm tree toppled on top of their car near Disneyland, while county firefighters worked to remove a rooftop canopy that became tangled in power lines in Buena Park, according to reporting from OnScene TV. One woman inside the car was unharmed while the other was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The Santa Ana wind event began late Sunday night and peaked Monday afternoon, with many areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties reporting wind gusts between 35 and 50 mph and isolated gusts of 50 to 70 mph, mostly in the mountains, according to the National Weather Service. The Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys saw particularly fearsome winds, with gusts of 77 mph measured at Magic Mountain.
The wind advisory is set to expire at 8 p.m. Monday, but stormy and blustery conditions will persist throughout the week, with forecasters predicting gusts of 30 to 50 mph across Southern California through Saturday.
Residents can also expect to have a rainy New Year’s Eve and Day, with rainfall rates from a quarter to half an inch an hour predicted on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
“The chances of a wet New Years Parade, and including the night before when people camp out before the parade, are extremely high, 80-90% at this point,” the weather service said in a Monday evening statement. “The last wet New Year`s parade was in 2006.”
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