Hit 50 M.P.H. : High Winds Close I-8 in East County

Gusty Santa Ana winds hitting 50 miles an hour closed Interstate 8 in extreme eastern San Diego County on Friday afternoon for an hour and a half, and travelers’ and small-craft advisories were put into effect for the weekend by the National Weather Service.

More than 70 power outages, most of them momentary, also were reported throughout the county as winds whipped tree branches into power lines and affected thousands of customers, according to San Diego Gas & Electric spokesman Fred Vaughn.

Friday’s biggest outage occurred in Imperial Beach, where 7,000 customers lost power for about two hours when a tree branch felled a line. An SDG&E; repair crew restored power by 11:43 a.m.

“It was all wind-related,” Vaughn said. “The outages will go away when the wind dies down. This happens once or twice a year when we get these winds.”

A travelers’ advisory was put into effect when winds in the mountains reached 35 m.p.h. Winds there are expected to decrease, and the advisory may be canceled by Sunday, National Weather Service forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said.

“Winds will gradually weaken Saturday, but they will still be fairly strong, even on Sunday,” he said.

Coastal winds will be around 25 m.p.h. this weekend, and a small-craft advisory, put into effect Friday, should be lifted Sunday, Shigehara said.

The Santa Ana, which began Thursday, will keep temperatures high, perhaps reaching the 80s even along the coast. Humidity is 15% to 25%, Shigehara said.

A storm that is stalled 800 miles off San Diego and slowly heading northeast could bring some clouds and possibly rain to the county by late Sunday or early Monday, Shigehara said.

“It could be to the northeast and may miss us, but there may be a surprise toward late Sunday or early Monday,” he said. “All in all, we should go through the weekend dry as the Santa Ana fades away.”

At the beaches, warm sunny days and clear cool nights will prevail through the weekend, with highs between 67 and 74. The ocean is 59 degrees and the surf is running 3 to 5 feet.

Along the coast, highs today will be 72 to 78, and lows will be 45 to 52.

In the inland areas, high temperatures will be between 74 and 82 degrees and lows will be from 35 to 45, except in the windy areas, where they will be 45 to 55.

Local northeast winds of 15 to 25 m.p.h. in the deserts will shift to the southeast today, leaving sunny, warmer days and clear nights. High temperatures will range from 74 to 84 degrees and lows between 45 and 55 degrees.

Sunny days and clear nights are also expected for the mountains throughout the weekend, with high temperatures of 55 to 65 degrees. Lows will range from 25 to 35 degrees.