A high wind warning was issued for San Diego on Tuesday in anticipation of gusty widespread winds that could blow up to 60 mph.
The warning will be in effect from Tuesday noon through 10 p.m. Wednesday as winds from 25 to 35 mph may be experienced countywide while mountain passes could see gusts reach a whopping 60 mph.
“As we go through the day today, the winds will be increasing through the county," NBC 7 meteorologist Sheena Parveen said. "Mostly you will notice it this afternoon and you will definitely notice it tonight, overnight and into tomorrow morning.”
By noon, the National Weather Service said they were receiving reports of trees down, highway signs damaged and overturned semi-trucks.
One semi-truck overturned on eastbound Interstate 8 near state Route 79 in the Japatul Valley at about noon, the California Highway Patrol said. No one was injured but to avoid further overturns, CHP shut down the interstate to all high-profile vehicles just after 2 p.m. Winds were reportedly 60 to 70 mph in the area.
In Ramona, a downed power line shut down a portion of Hansen Lane at about 2:30 p.m., according to the San Diego County Department of Public Works.
Parveen said a big area of high pressure around Idaho is fueling our Santa Ana winds while an area of disturbed weather near Southern California is giving us the chance for wet weather Tuesday and Wednesday.
San Diego will be getting rain and some wet mountain snow or a rain/snow mix in the second half of the day. The region will gradually get more cloud coverage as the day progresses due to the aforementioned disturbed weather.
According to Parveen, if the county does get showers, they will not be widespread but scattered instead.
"The coast may have the best chance, and the deserts," Parveen said of the possible rain.
There is a slightly higher chance of showers on Wednesday around the county, Parveen said, with the possibility of more rain Friday or Saturday.
San Diego Gas & Electric said on Monday that it "was monitoring weather conditions and is prepared for emergency response."
The threat of outages is always elevated during a high-wind event, of course, but even more so this time due to wet driving conditions. In fact, most outages during events like this are caused by drivers knocking out power poles and/or transformers due to wet roads, utility officials said.
If the power does go out, residents can get information by going to SDG&E's outage map.
The elements are also contributing to a high-surf advisory through 5 p.m. on Tuesday, with some sets near 8-10 feet in southern San Diego. High surf last week banged up the OB Pier last week, doing damage and closing the iconic structure until south-side railing repairs could be completed.
