High Wind — Orange County Coastal Plain, California

2000-12-25 · Orange County Coastal Plain, California

Wider weather episode

Wind gusts greater than 58 mph continued for 25 consecutive hours in the Santa Ana Mountains. In Orange County, power poles, power lines, and many trees were knocked down in the cities of Orange, Tustin, Irvine, Santa Ana, Westminister, Garden Grove, and La Palma. Power was disrupted to 30,000 homes and businesses. Wind gusts near 38 mph were measured at Huntington Beach Pier.Across the Inland Empire: winds knocked down power poles, trees, signs, and fences in 23 separate locations in the cities of Yucapia, Redlands, Rialto, Fontana, San Bernardino, and Riverside. Power was disrupted to over 9000 homes and businesses. Many trees were also uprooted. In Riverside County, one fell onto a moving car, causing minor injuries to the occupants. Police, firefighters, power crew and tree-trimmers spent much of Christmas day clearing traffic hazards and battling small brush fires to keep them from spreading.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5166658. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.