High Winds Close I-8, Cut Power : Strong Santa Anas Expected to Fade Over Weekend

The Santa Ana winds that wreaked havoc in much of Southern California on Thursday will gradually decrease through the weekend, but the dry weather will persist, the National Weather Service reported.

Winds gusting up to 75 m.p.h. at times prompted the California Highway Patrol to close a stretch of Interstate 8 to motor homes and trucks. Only passenger vehicles were being allowed to pass beyond East Willow Road through to the Imperial county line, a CHP spokesman said.

San Diego Gas & Electric reported that a total of 83,000 people countywide were without power at times Thursday as winds toppled poles and knocked branches onto lines. There were 44 outages in all, and hardest hit was the San Marcos-Vista area, where 4,500 people had no electricity for about an hour Thursday morning.

SDG&E; reported smaller outages in many other parts of the county including Oceanside, Escondido and the South Bay. La Mesa suffered an hourlong outage in the downtown area that darkened the police station, forcing it to switch to an emergency generator.

Power had been restored to homes in most areas of the county by late Thursday evening, SDG&E; officials said.

A warning was issued Wednesday night by the National Weather Service when winds whipped up to 55 m.p.h., but the alert was expected to be downgraded to a wind advisory by this morning, said forecaster Wilbur Shigehara.

“The winds will be more selective by Friday,” Shigehara said Thursday. “It’s windy just about everywhere today, but by Friday we will see light winds, and maybe some gusty winds through the canyon areas.”

Winds are expected to diminish today to 15 to 20 m.p.h., Shigehara said. By Saturday they will decrease even more, he said.

A low low and a high high are responsible for the strong Santa Ana condition, Shigehara said. San Diego is sandwiched between a low pressure system over central Baja California and a large high-pressure system over the Rockies, the difference of the two systems hanging directly overhead.

As the weekend progresses, daytime temperatures will remain sunny and mild with very little humidity, Shigehara said.

The coast and inland areas can expect high temperatures of 73 to 78 through the weekend, dropping a couple of degrees along the coast on Sunday.

Coastal lows will range in the mid-40s, and overnight lows for the inland valleys will range in the upper 30s. In the coldest agricultural areas such as Valley Center and Pauma Valley, the temperatures could dip into the upper 20s, Shigehara said.

The ocean water temperature is 56 degrees. The surf is at 3 to 6 feet.