Winds Take San Diego by Storm

Downing power lines, a billboard and trees, high winds tore through San Diego County on Monday. Boats were ripped from their moorings and traffic was stopped during the sudden storm that yielded rain, sleet and snow.

Temperatures dropped more than 10 degrees in a matter of minutes around 4 p.m. Monday and skies abruptly darkened when strong northerly winds and clouds blew into the county, with gusts up to 30 m.p.h. in the city. Rain and sleet peppered parts of North and East County, while snow fell at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, in the foothills of Alpine and in the mountains.

The National Weather Service predicted that the unexpected cold front would leave Monday night just as rapidly as it arrived, but unseasonably cold temperatures were to continue today in all parts of the county under partly cloudy skies.

Forecasters predicted that the coldest frost this year will settle in portions of the county’s agricultural areas tonight, with temperatures dipping into the 20s. Lows at the beach are expected to drop into the 30s tonight.

Fallen power lines--most of them knocked down by trees and branches--interrupted service to about 16,000 customers of San Diego Gas & Electric Co. throughout San Diego County, leaving some areas without power for three hours, said Elizabeth Abbott, SDG&E; spokeswoman.

About 6,200 customers lost power in the Pacific Beach-Clairemont area; 4,000 in Sweetwater; 1,900 in Bonita; 1,900 in Normal Heights, and 1,350 in National City, Abbott said.

Sheriff’s deputies evacuated three homes in Imperial Beach when a power line fell at 13th and Palm streets, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

About 4 p.m. Monday, a tree toppled by winds halted northbound traffic for nearly an hour on California 163 near the Laurel Street bridge, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation reported. Caltrans crews used chain saws to remove the large tree in small sections, opening one lane at a time, a Caltrans spokesman said.

Another tree buffetted by the high winds slowed traffic on westbound Interstate 8 near Highway 163, said the dispatcher, and Caltrans crews trimmed dangling branches that were hanging over the freeway before securing the tree with rope. The tree will be removed by Caltrans today, she said.

A large billboard, partially blown off the side of a building, knocked down wires in Mission Hills on Goldfinch Street, prompting police to close the road to traffic for about an hour between Washington Street and Fort Stockton Drive. Some traffic flow resumed when live wires were removed, but firefighters continued working to remove the fallen sign, which had caught on the satellite dish atop Mission Hills Radio & TV in the 4000 block of Goldfinch Street.

The Coast Guard and San Diego Harbor Patrol retrieved boats that were dragging anchor or had broken loose from moorings during the high winds, and the Mission Bay Harbor Patrol plucked eight people from the Mission Bay channel when their sailboats capsized in the sudden gusts.

Harbor Patrol Officer Mike Shutters said students in an intermediate sailing class at the Mission Bay Aquatics Center were sailing into the mouth of the channel in eight boats about 4 p.m. when 30 m.p.h. winds toppled the vessels. Two students suffered mild hypothermia but they were not hospitalized.

Lightning, thunder and less than a quarter of an inch of rain were reported in parts of the county, and two to six inches of snow fell in the mountains, where the snow level was down to 900 feet above sea level, forecasters said.

According to forecaster Wilbur Shigehara, it was a quirk that made “conditions . . . just right” for the storm in San Diego County. “It bypassed everywhere else. San Diego County was at a point where . . . mild temperatures collided with arctic air,” he said.

Shigehara said “dangerously cold” temperatures were developing in agricultural areas Monday night, and growers were warned to prepare for the heavy frost tonight as well. He said freezing temperatures could take hold tonight as early as 10 p.m.

Lows are expected to be in the unseasonably cold 38- to 48-degree range at the coast and in the 29- to 39-degree range in inland valleys today and Wednesday. Daytime highs in both areas should be between 57 and 61 degrees.

The surf is still above average at four to five feet, and forecasters warned of a high tide of 7.4 feet at 7:16 a.m. today. Local rough seas were forecast for harbor entrances.

The water temperature at 59 degrees today may be warmer than the air.

Winds will continue to gust up to 30 m.p.h. in the mountains today, where highs in the 30s may plunge to 13 degrees at night.

Even deserts will be cold, with highs in the 40s and 50s and lows in the 30s under partly cloudy skies.