Winds Southern California

Besieged by a second night of ferocious winds, bleary-eyed residents in hard-hit areas emerged from their homes Tuesday into a landscape of toppled trees, dangling utility poles and splintered roofs--and a reminder of nature's seemingly limitless genius for upending life in Southern California.

Santa Ana winds gusting up to 45 mph blew through the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday, knocking down power lines, causing outages and felling tree branches. Strong gusts downed power lines throughout the city and surrounding areas, knocking out power to thousands of customers. At one point, the DWP had 6,400 customers without power, most of them in the San Fernando Valley, including parts of Sunland, Woodland Hills and Sherman Oaks.

Winds gusting to 77 mph huffed and roared through Southern California like a beast unleashed Monday, killing a man in Sunland, toppling trees, flipping big trucks like toys, snapping power lines and causing widespread--though generally minor--damage. Forecasters predicted the onslaught would continue through the night, possibly moderating later today.

Talk about a bad hair day. Santa Ana winds of up to 45 mph blew through the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday, knocking down power lines, causing outages and felling tree branches. Strong gusts downed power lines throughout the city and surrounding areas, knocking out power to thousands of customers. Nearly 63,000 Southern California Edison customers were affected. For some, it meant flickering lights and blinking clock radios.

Santa Ana winds gusting up to 45 mph blew through the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday, knocking down power lines, causing outages and felling tree branches. Strong gusts downed power lines throughout the city and surrounding areas, knocking out power to thousands of customers. At one point, the DWP had 6,400 customers without power, most of them in the San Fernando Valley, including parts of Sunland, Woodland Hills and Sherman Oaks.

Call them the Santa Anas with a winter twist. While locals are more likely to associate the legendary gusts with hot weather and deadly brush fires, Monday's chilly winds made perfect sense to meteorologists. A massive stretch of icy air traveling in the atmosphere from the Northwest blanketed the region, sinking toward the surface and mixing with a similar band of high-pressure air gusting from the Great Basin of Nevada and western Utah.

Besieged by a second night of ferocious winds, bleary-eyed residents in hard-hit areas emerged from their homes Tuesday into a landscape of toppled trees, dangling utility poles and splintered roofs--and a reminder of nature's seemingly limitless genius for upending life in Southern California.

Talk about a bad hair day. Santa Ana winds of up to 45 mph blew through the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday, knocking down power lines, causing outages and felling tree branches. Strong gusts downed power lines throughout the city and surrounding areas, knocking out power to thousands of customers. Nearly 63,000 Southern California Edison customers were affected. For some, it meant flickering lights and blinking clock radios.

Powerful Santa Ana winds that lashed Southern California earlier this week subsided Wednesday, providing work crews around the Valley with an opportunity to begin cleaning up the mess and assessing the damage. Southern California Edison officials said that 515 repair crews--more than 100 pressed into service from other areas of California and five other states--were busy responding to a list of more than 6,500 reported cases of damaged power lines and transformers.

Clock radio: out. Coffee maker: gone. Hair dryer: nope. Television: don't even think about it--along with the electric garage door, can opener, computer and, of course, the lights. For hundreds of thousands of Southern Californians, home has recently had all the charms of a survivalist's mountain hideaway. With downed lines and power outages sweeping the region after gale-force winds, residents from Altadena to Sun Valley are coping in a world without modern comforts and conveniences.

Powerful Santa Ana winds that lashed Southern California earlier this week subsided Wednesday, providing work crews around the Valley with an opportunity to begin cleaning up the mess and assessing the damage. Southern California Edison officials said that 515 repair crews--more than 100 pressed into service from other areas of California and five other states--were busy responding to a list of more than 6,500 reported cases of damaged power lines and transformers.

Besieged by a second night of ferocious winds, bleary-eyed residents in hard-hit areas emerged from their homes Tuesday into a landscape of toppled trees, dangling utility poles and splintered roofs--and a reminder of nature's seemingly limitless genius for upending life in Southern California.

Clock radio: out. Coffee maker: gone. Hair dryer: nope. Television: don't even think about it--along with the electric garage door, can opener, computer and, of course, the lights. For hundreds of thousands of Southern Californians, home has recently had all the charms of a survivalist's mountain hideaway. With downed lines and power outages sweeping the region after gale-force winds, residents from Altadena to Sun Valley are coping in a world without modern comforts and conveniences.

Besieged by a second night of ferocious winds, bleary-eyed residents in hard-hit areas emerged from their homes Tuesday into a landscape of toppled trees, dangling utility poles and splintered roofs--and a reminder of nature's seemingly limitless genius for upending life in Southern California.

Winds gusting to 77 mph huffed and roared through Southern California like a beast unleashed Monday, killing a man in Sunland, toppling trees, flipping big trucks like toys, snapping power lines and causing widespread--though generally minor--damage. Forecasters predicted the onslaught would continue through the night, possibly moderating later today.

Call them the Santa Anas with a winter twist. While locals are more likely to associate the legendary gusts with hot weather and deadly brush fires, Monday's chilly winds made perfect sense to meteorologists. A massive stretch of icy air traveling in the atmosphere from the Northwest blanketed the region, sinking toward the surface and mixing with a similar band of high-pressure air gusting from the Great Basin of Nevada and western Utah.

Winds gusting to 77 mph huffed and roared through Southern California on Monday, killing one man, flipping big rigs like toys, snapping power lines and tormenting sleepless residents with an overnight onslaught that caused mainly minor damage but offered a quirky version of Mother Nature's mean side.

Winds gusting to 77 mph huffed and roared through Southern California on Monday, killing one man, flipping big rigs like toys, felling trees including a venerable Orange County oak and tormenting sleepless residents with an overnight onslaught. The high winds, produced by an unusual collision of whirling pressure systems, prompted authorities to close two key freeways--a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 15 through the Inland Empire and 128 miles of Interstate 10 from Indio to the Arizona border.

Winds gusting to 77 mph huffed and roared through Southern California on Monday, killing one man, flipping big rigs like toys, snapping power lines and tormenting sleepless residents with an overnight onslaught that caused mainly minor damage but offered a quirky version of Mother Nature's mean side.

Winds gusting to 77 mph huffed and roared through Southern California on Monday, killing one man, flipping big rigs like toys, felling trees including a venerable Orange County oak and tormenting sleepless residents with an overnight onslaught. The high winds, produced by an unusual collision of whirling pressure systems, prompted authorities to close two key freeways--a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 15 through the Inland Empire and 128 miles of Interstate 10 from Indio to the Arizona border.