High Wind — Orange County Coastal Plain, California

1999-12-22 · Orange County Coastal Plain, California

Wider weather episode

Strong Santa Ana winds hit Southwestern California on the evening of 12/21 and lasted through most of the following day. Widespread power and phone outages occurred from falling trees knocking down lines and snapped poles. A large dust cloud over the San Jacinto Valley closed highways, sand blasted cars, and reached a height of 500 feet. Blowing sand, dirt and cross winds at Ontario International Airport forced the diversion of two commercial airline flights and the cancellation of three others. Gusty winds also spread a house fire in Glendale to an adjacent house causing two injuries and $50,000 damage. Wind gusts between 35 and 53 mph were observed at Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. Firefighters had difficulty controlling three wildfires in San Diego County due to the strong wind gusts.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5723244. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.