104-mph gusts recorded as Santa Ana winds wreak havoc across Southern California, forcing power shut-off
The National Weather Service in Oxnard was predicting a high-pressure system would block much of the area Thursday evening through Friday morning
A huge gust of wind toppled several large trees in the same area, with winds measuring up to 50 mph Thursday evening
It is hard to pinpoint the exact cause of the storm that knocked out power for more than 1 million people. But there was no shortage of theories and theories-makers.
‘This is the biggest storm we’ve had in a decade,’ said Brian Nelson, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.
‘We’ve had a couple of big storms in the past that had winds of more than 90 miles an hour. This one was just as windy as the others. It was probably more gusting at that speed, blowing branches off trees.’
At least 25 people died in California, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Vietnam in the recent past due to storms that took down power and killed more than a dozen people.
Power lines that broke or snapped in the storm are believed to be responsible for at least a dozen deaths and damage costing millions of dollars.
‘This is definitely one of the worst storms for us here and I’m glad it happened to us,’ David Reeder, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.
‘We’ve had our share of power interruptions in the past, but this is probably one of the worst on this scale.’
A huge gust of wind toppled several large trees in the same area, with winds measuring up to 50 mph Thursday evening. AccuWeather
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said there were no deaths or serious injuries reported across the state. The National Weather Service reported no fatalities outside of Oxnard, an unincorporated seaside city located in Ventura County.
The winds started around 1pm as the storm moved across the state, bringing rain and strong winds.
AccuWeather’s Brian Nelson said there are plenty of theories about what happened.
‘There are people who think it was a lot of wind or the storm had strong winds with high humidity,’ he said. ‘There are others who think it was really cold or really cold and a lot of rain.’
The National Weather Service predicted winds would reach up to 50 mph in a few spots as the storm barreled through Southern California.
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