Fierce Gusts Take a Whirlwind Tour and a Couple of Sheriff’s Towers

Santa Ana wind gusts of up to 40 m.p.h. toppled trees, signs and two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department transmitting towers in Chatsworth on Sunday, but no major damage to homes or businesses was reported in the valley areas.

Sheriff’s Sgt. James Rupsa said the department’s two transmitters on Oat Mountain above Chatsworth were blown down about 4 a.m. and were back in operation about 4 p.m. Substations in the Santa Clarita Valley, Malibu and Antelope Valley were forced to activate manual emergency transmission systems, Rupsa said.

“We shared a frequency with Malibu,” he said. “Fortunately, nothing major happened. Everything was quiet.”

Wind advisories were issued by the California Highway Patrol for the Antelope Valley Freeway from San Fernando Road in Newhall to Ward Road in Saugus and the Foothill Freeway from Sunland Boulevard in Sunland to the Golden State Freeway above Sylmar. They were in effect into the evening.

A wind advisory means that travel is not recommended for campers, trailers and vehicles carrying loads longer or wider than normal, CHP officer Shirley Gaines said.

The CHP reported that a camper shell that blew off a truck on the Golden State Freeway near Roxford Street in Sylmar about 1:30 p.m. was removed without incident.

High winds were expected to continue today, Betty Reo of the National Weather Service said.

“This is a typical Santa Ana wind condition,” Reo said. “It’s normal for this time of the year.”