Wind Advisory for Sonoma Today

EVENING UPDATE


Winds topple power lines and trees in the Bay Area

Updated at 05:01 PM 11/28/09
ABC News
source

Much of the Bay Area was wind whipped and battered on Saturday. The North Bay suffered the brunt of the gusts, they were so strong in some spots they pulled down power lines and toppled trees.

A large cedar crashed on a truck and part of the roof of a home in Sonoma. No one was hurt, but the incident did shake-up the people inside the house. Wind gusts of over 32 miles-per-hour were reported in Sonoma County.

The CHP issued a high-wind advisory Saturday morning for bridges in the Bay Area including the Bay Bridge, and Golden Gate Bridge. Drivers are advised to be careful and those with high-profile vehicles are being discouraged from traveling on some highways in Solano County because of the high winds.

The winds also caused power outages; about 22,000 PG&E customers were affected stretching from Napa to San Jose.

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High winds cause damage, confusion in Santa Rosa

By MARTIN ESPINOZA
PRESS DEMOCRAT
source
Published: Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 10:45 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 10:45 a.m.

Morning wind gusts of up to 32 miles per hour brought down a number of power lines, trees and branches in Sonoma County, with one power outage leaving thousands in West Santa Rosa without electricity, officials said.

The winds, which have since died down to about 12 to 15 miles per hour, left numerous hazardous tree conditions in the area.

The outage, which was first reported at 8:35 a.m., affected 2,780 residents who live in the area of Jennings Avenue, from Ridley Avenue to Coddingtown Mall, PG&E spokesman JD Guidi said. An hour after the outage was reported, PG&E crews were making their way to the scene and the company had no estimate for when power would be restored, Guidi said.

There were initial reports of one person being injured by a downed power line in West Santa Rosa. Guidi said he could not confirm whether the West Santa Rosa power outage had caused an injury, since crews were not yet at the scene.

“If any customers see any downed powerlines always assume that the line is live or carrying electric current," he said. "Do not try to touch or move any downed lines and keep children and animals away.”

The National Weather Service said the strong morning winds were brought on by a sharp pressure difference associated with a cold front leaving the area and a high pressure system coming into the area.

National Weather Service forecaster Diana Henderson said winds should slow to between 5 to 10 miles per hour by later this afternoon or tonight. "It’s dying down in a lot of places. Nothing like what it was earlier," she said.

The winds left some local residents scratching their heads. When Lorin Prushko woke this morning, she noticed that the 14-foot trampoline in the backyard of her Agua Caliente home was gone.

"I ran to the front door and noticed it was in the front yard," Prushko said. "There's no fence or house damage. The trampoline is just standing upright in the front yard."

Prushko said nothing else was moved and she didn't hear any loud noises last night.

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Original Post
REGIONAL: WIND ADVISORY ISSUED UNTIL 5 P.M. TODAY

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:34
CBS5.com
source

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory this morning that is expected to last until 5 p.m. today.

At about 5 a.m. today, northerly winds gusts of between 40 and 50 mph were measured in parts of the North and East Bay Hills. Gusts of about 50 mph are expected to continue throughout the day at elevations above 1,000 feet.

Strong winds can make driving difficult, especially in tall vehicles, so motorists are encouraged to be cautious when driving today.

San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Marin, Monterey, Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Clara and Alameda counties are affected by the advisory.