Blowin’ in the Wind : Weather: Santa Ana gusts of nearly 40 m.p.h. in the Valley knock out electricity and hamper firefighters.

Powerful Santa Ana winds packing gusts of up to 50 m.p.h. swept through much of Southern California on Tuesday, toppling trees, setting off brush fires and knocking out power to thousands of residents.

The winds gusted to nearly 40 m.p.h. in the San Fernando Valley, but were more a nuisance than a danger, temporarily knocking out electricity in Woodland Hills, but mostly blowing leaves over manicured lawns and tossing empty trash cans onto streets.

Firefighters, however, blamed the strong winds for fanning two small fires that under normal conditions would have been routine. “The wind is driving us crazy,” Battalion Chief Mike Littleton said.

The fires were extinguished quickly, but firefighters were put on alert because of the extreme fire danger.

Southern California Edison officials reported 11 power outages throughout the county, lasting from half a minute to more than two hours, and affecting about 26,880 customers.

The Valley power outage created some Election Day headaches for a polling place at a Woodland Hills home. Belle McStroul, whose home in the 21800 block of Providencia Street has been used as a polling place for 10 years, said power was on and off all day, forcing her to provide candles to enable voters to see their ballots.

“Of all times for this to happen,” McStroul said. “This is crazy.”

Debra Sass, a spokeswoman for the Department of Water and Power, said downed power lines at two Valley locations interrupted service to about 2,700 customers.

Power had been returned to all but 200 homes throughout the San Fernando Valley by the end of the day, a DWP spokeswoman said. About 800 customers in Woodland Hills subsequently lost power about 7:30 p.m, but power was restored to about half of them by 9 p.m., she said.

About 20,000 customers in Long Beach, Lynwood, Compton, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood and Cerritos also lost power temporarily.

Traffic signals in several communities failed, and streets throughout the metropolitan area were strewn with palm fronds, branches and debris, authorities said.

In Ventura County, gusts up to 50 m.p.h. knocked down power lines and caused six small brush fires, officials said.

The National Weather Service said the winds, which during the fall often blow from the mountains to the ocean--reversing the normal flow--will be just as strong over much of the area today.

Steve Burback, a meteorologist for WeatherData, a private weather consultant for The Times, said the winds would subside briefly during the morning, but return at the same strength by evening and continue through Friday.

At 2 p.m. Tuesday, winds reached a high of 38 m.p.h in Northridge and 35 m.p.h in Van Nuys, Burback said.

Temperatures will remain in the high 70s to low 80s throughout the week, with sunny skies, he said.

Officials said there was no major damage as a result of the strong winds, although the gusts apparently snapped a railroad grade crossing bar on Winnetka Avenue in Chatsworth and snapped a large tree limb that crushed the windshield of a car parked on Glade Avenue, just south of Victory Boulevard in Woodland Hills.

The DWP reported downed power lines at Erwin Street and Fallbrook Avenue, and at Cass Avenue and MacFarlane Drive in Woodland Hills.

In the Santa Clarita Valley, motorists sometimes maneuvered through swirls of dust along surface streets in dry, scrubby Canyon Country. Others swerved to avoid tumbleweeds that blew across the Golden State Freeway.

As a precaution, the city of Santa Clarita removed large lamppost banners heralding the debut of Metrolink’s commuter service to and from downtown Los Angeles. “We didn’t want one of those banners blowing into somebody’s windshield,” city spokeswoman Gail Foy said. Strong winds also caused brief, localized power outages and felled small trees, city officials said.

In Orange County, winds knocked out power to thousands of people, battering homes and prompting county fire officials to declare a “red flag watch,” meaning that more than the usual amount of equipment and firefighters were sent to all reported fires, said a Fire Department spokeswoman. A large tree fell on the Costa Mesa Freeway near Katella Avenue, blocking three lanes of traffic.

Times staff writers Jeff Prugh and Julie Tamaki contributed to this story.