High Winds Topple Trees, Cancel Classes

Winds are moving from the northeast to the coast and the inland valleys bringing dry and hot conditions

High winds disrupted highway travel, toppled trees, caused power outages and canceled classes in San Diego.

The county experienced another day of strong winds across the county under the high wind warning issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) through Thursday, 5 p.m.

Unlike most wind events, this one wasn't just felt in the East County. Winds knocked around boats on Mission Bay and kicked up sand on Fiesta Island.

SDG&E reported thousands of people were without power due to the strong winds. Get up to date outage information here.

In Hillcrest, a gas line was severed by a falling tree at 6th Avenue and Thorn Street around 12:15 p.m. Ten people were evacuated by San Diego police.

The top 30 feet of a 100-foot palm tree was sheared off and fell on the line just before the service into the building, said J. Harris with San Diego Fire-Rescue.

There were no injuries and residents were allowed back in their building once it was cleared by fire crews.

Cal Fire announced that its fixed wing aircraft were grounded due to high winds. Air response will be evaluated on a case by case basis for each incident.

No local resources were diverted north for the Etiwanda Fire burning in Rancho Cucamonga.

Students in the Mountain Empire School District were told to stay home, classes were canceled due to high winds.

Winds toppled over a large tree and stripped away new solar panels at Mountain Empire High School.

Campus Supervisor Diana Parker said the panels were supposed to withstand a wind factor of 110 mph.

“We’ve had worse but this one’s pretty high,” she said of the high wind warning.

Winds knocked down a large eucalyptus tree in front of a Poway apartment building and damaged a sign at an MTS stop.

Crews with chainsaws were working on removing the tree along Midland Road and Hilleary Place around 6 a.m.

The sight of those trees down on Midland turned Poway resident Katy Olmstead when she was out on errands earlier in the day. She finds the sounds of the high winds a little nerve-wracking.

“I was under the car port today and it just started rattling and I cried ‘Autie Em’ and went inside the house,” Olmstead said.

Her neighbor Chuck Roach said his wife was up several times in the night trying to quiet chimes and rattling screen doors. For him, he loves hearing the winds.

“I have a motorhome and I love the sound of the wind when you’re at the beach,” Roach said.

Kaitlin Walls agrees and said she has no trouble sleeping when it’s windy like this.

“Nature kind of speaks up and actually starts something going,” Walls said.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

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