Southland Winds Take a Breather; L.A. High Hits 78

Diminishing winds greeted the Southland on Sunday, compared to the fierce gusts that swept some areas the previous 36 hours.

A wind advisory was still in effect Sunday morning for the Cajon Pass area of Interstate 15 between Devore and Ontario, where a sandstorm, whipped by gusts up to 80 m.p.h., created zero visibility early Saturday and led to a chain-reaction collision involving 17 cars.

Several motorists sustained injuries ranging from minor cuts and bruises to a heart attack and a broken hip, and four remained hospitalized Sunday, the California Highway Patrol said.

By Sunday morning, the winds were calm and skies were clear in the Inland Empire and similar conditions were expected to prevail through today, according to the National Weather Service.

The violent, 15-foot coastal swells in the Channel Islands--which claimed the life of a Northern California man who was swept off his sailboat late Friday--had also diminished substantially by Sunday morning.

“We probably aren’t going to see anything worse for a while,” said Coast Guard Lt. John Williams.

The victim was identified Sunday as Stewart Kett, 63, of Watsonville. His body was found Saturday off the Santa Barbara coast after an all-night search by the Coast Guard and Navy.

Four others, including Kett’s son-in-law, were aboard the 50-foot Octavia, which was bound for San Diego for a race to Manzanillo, Mexico.

The son-in-law, Fred Sampson, 37, also of Watsonville, said the yacht had been sailing at a “very fast” speed when, suddenly, “it lurched forward” after being struck by a large wave.

Kett was sitting in the cockpit seat.

“He ducked to avoid the spray from the wave and went straight over the side,” Sampson said.

Kett--who is survived by his wife, Alice, 62, and four children--was an avid yachtsman who had been honored by the Coast Guard for rescuing two sailors from stormy seas during a 1982 race in San Francisco, Sampson said.

Above-average temperatures in the beach cities Sunday attracted a large crowd to Santa Monica, said Bill Powers, a Los Angeles County senior lifeguard.

The mercury reached 71 degrees there. The Los Angeles Civic Center high topped out at 78, 11 degrees above normal, but well below the 90-degree record for the date set in 1971, the NWS said.

The high-pressure area over the Western states that spawned the high winds and warm temperatures was expected to slowly weaken today bringing 10 to 12 m.p.h. gusts and slightly cooler temperatures, forecasters said.