High Wind in California, January 6 to 7, 1997

A deep cut-off low aloft, coupled with strong, surface high pressure over northern Nevada, funneled gusty Santa Ana winds through the passes and canyons of southern California. Wind gusts reached 99 mph through Fremont Canyon of Orange County on the morning of the sixth. The winds toppled trees onto homes, cars, and freeways, blew trucks off the road, and mowed down utility poles, shutting off electric and phone service to hundreds of thousands. One 63 year old man suffered cuts to his head, after his pickup and trailer overturned. The CSU campus at San Bernardino was shut down for the first time in ten years, when windows shattered in the dormatory complex and three students suffered minor injuries when they were toppled by the wind. Mission Viejo, in Orange County, was particularly hard hit, with more than 1000 trees reported down, along with entire rows of utility poles. The I-15 was closed for more than six hours between Corona and Devore, due to 14 tractor-trailer rigs which tipped over. Near Mecca, in the Coachella Valley, a sandstorm contributed to a pile-up that left several people with minor injuries, and destroyed all vehicles involved. Southern California Edison reported over 900,000 customers lost electric power, which made it the worst interruption of service since 1983. Several TV and radio stations were knocked off the air as well.