Storm brings strong winds

A dry storm system rolling into the Southland today from Canada is expected to bring Santa Ana winds gusting to more than 80 mph overnight and into Thursday.

The National Weather Service issued a high-wind advisory this morning for the Los Angeles County coast, valleys and mountains and Ventura County coast until 9 p.m., when it becomes a more severe high-wind warning until 3 p.m. Thursday. A high-wind warning also is in effect for the Ventura County mountains until 3 p.m. Thursday.

A high-wind advisory is in effect for the Orange County coast and foothills until 8 p.m. Thursday; for the San Bernardino and Riverside counties valleys and mountains until 10 a.m. Thursday, when it becomes a high-wind warning until 8 p.m.

Winds are expected to gust to more than 80 mph in the mountains and 60 mph in the valleys of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

“This can be kind of a dangerous situation,” Sweet said. “If you’ve got wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph, it does tend to blow trees over.”

No major wind-related crashes were reported this morning in the Los Angeles area, and the California Highway Patrol has not issued any wind advisories yet, Officer David Porter said.

Although the strongest winds are not expected until after the evening commute, unusually strong Santa Ana winds could cause large vehicles to sway or even force them off the road, Sweet said.

“These winds are certainly strong enough to cause problems for large vehicles like trucks on some of the interstates,” Sweet said. “You’ve seen in the past where some of them have blown over.”

The storm system picked up cold air as it moved south from Canada through Nevada, Sweet said, and temperatures are expected to drop into the mid-60s for the next few days.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com