Waves, High Tides Threaten Coastal Areas : Weather: Fast-moving storm brings gusting winds and rain to San Diego County.

A storm with rain and gale-force winds descended on San Diego County Thursday, knocking trees into power poles, tearing boats from their moorings and pushing tides to record heights.

The National Weather Service issued an advisory warning of heavy surf through the weekend, with a chance of flooding along the beaches. Breakers, propelled in part by the highest tides seen in San Diego in more than 50 years, will be up to 8 feet.

“These waves are pretty darn big,” said chief forecaster Wilbur Shigehara of the National Weather Service office in San Diego. The strong winds aggravated the high tides, which are being caused by the onset of the solstice that signals the beginning of winter on Sunday.

San Diego Gas & Electric began getting calls at 3 a.m. as winds gusting up to 50 m.p.h. blew through the county, entangling trees and power poles. Power was knocked out to 80,000 customers, SDG&E; spokesman Fred Vaughn said. All but three of the outages occurred in the southern part of the county.

A lightning bolt struck a tree in Lakeside, severing a power line that served 700 customers. A few residents in rural areas, where utility lines are above ground, lost phone service.

The storm also brought early-morning showers. Rainfall totals included .46 of an inch in Alpine, .11 in Escondido, .04 in Oceanside, .03 at Lindbergh Field and .20 in El Cajon. There were 2 inches of snow on the ground at Mt. Laguna. The season rainfall total at Lindbergh Field is 2.05 inches. The normal total for a Dec. 19 is 2.50 inches.

Along with the high tides, minor flooding is expected this weekend along the Mission Beach boardwalk. And Shigehara warned that shoreline restaurants might have problems.

Just last week the construction of a 4-foot-high sea wall was completed to shield the Poseidon restaurant in Del Mar from high tides that in the past have flooded the building and shattered windows, manager John Sayer said.

“We think we’re pretty safe,” said Dennis Rush, manager of the Marine Room in La Jolla, which has experienced similar problems. He said the dining rooms’ windows are positioned 180 degrees away from the water, and the restaurant sits about 7 feet above sea level. Next door, the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club was being fortified with sandbags, Rush said.

Churning tides in San Diego and Mission bays found Harbor Patrol officers trying to round up about 10 boats that broke loose of their moorings.

“This time of year we get these strong winds on a regular basis, but because of our nice, sunny weather in San Diego, the boat owners don’t think they need ground tackle, and the boats break free,” Harbor Police Lt. Jim Krusen said. There were no reports of damage to the boats.

Some people welcomed the high winds. Windsurfers flocked to Tourmaline Surfing Park in La Jolla to take advantage of the optimum conditions.

But other thrill seekers found hot-air balloon tours and sky diving classes canceled. “These are the worst type of conditions you could consider flying a balloon in,” said Connie Vonzweck, president of Sky Surfer Balloon Co. in Del Mar. Two balloon rides scheduled for Thursday were postponed until winds slow considerably.

“When you’re up there, you’re in the eye of the wind, you’d be going as fast as the wind.” Vonzweck said. “We’d be in Arizona in an hour.”

The San Diego Air Sports Center was turning away callers anxious to fly to 10,000 feet and sky-dive back down. The maximum winds that are safe for sky-diving are 14 m.p.h., manager Hector Mendoza said.

The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement for high winds in the mountains through Friday night. People driving in high-wind areas were warned to exercise caution.

The California Highway Patrol urged motorists to reduce their speed on Interstate 8 between Ocotillo Wells to Los Coches and on Interstate 5 in San Diego County.

The San Diego forecast for the weekend calls for fair skies and sunshine on Saturday and clouds on Sunday, Shigehara said. Coastal temperatures will range from 65 to 70 and dip to 40 at night, while the inland valleys will peak in the mid 70s, dropping to near-freezing. The mountains will have highs of 38 to 46, with overnight temperatures of 20 to 28.

In the Los Angeles Basin, winds gusting at more than 70 m.p.h. in some areas downed power lines, fanned brush fires, shattered windows, overturned an airplane, ripped the facing from two high-rise buildings and felled scores of trees.

The strongest winds were reported near Fillmore in Ventura County, where gusts of up to 73 m.p.h. snapped a power line that sparked a brush fire beside California 126. Another wind-whipped fire 20 miles to the east burned across about an acre of farmland beside a Los Angeles County honor farm before fire fighters knocked it down.

Snow started falling on I-5 near Gorman shortly after midnight and by 4:30 a.m., the state’s principal north-south highway was closed in both directions, with more than 30 big-rig trucks stalled and jackknifed on the icy pavement of the steep Grapevine grade.

In the San Joaquin Valley, windblown dust reduced visibility and forced the CHP to close a stretch of I-5 bear Coalinga for 45 minutes. It was the same area where a dust storm cut across the highway on Nov. 29, setting off a series of chain-reaction collisions that killed 17 people.