Twisting in the Wind

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  A fast-moving funnel cloud ripped a section of roof off a home in Huntington Harbour on Sunday, ushering in a short-lived thunderstorm that also pelted portions of Orange County with pea-size hail.

The peeled-off roof lay seemingly intact a short distance from a second-story home in the 3800 block of Seascape Drive in Huntington Harbour. No one was home at the time.

About half a dozen boats were blown away from docks, left adrift until the storm blew over and emergency officials could retrieve them.

Trees were uprooted by the fierce winds, heavy patio furniture was tossed about, and holiday decorations were strewn across wet streets in the wake of the brief storm. The driving winds were also blamed for a downed light pole and a power loss that affected about 2,000 Garden Grove residents.

Lightning pierced the dark afternoon skies on several occasions, producing thunderclaps heard through Central and North Orange County and along the coast.

Tim Bashaw of Westminster was standing outside with his neighbors watching “the lightning show” in the distance when he spotted one section of cloud that suddenly seemed to darken and stand out.

“I was just joking around when I said, ‘Hey, look, a funnel cloud.’ But then we watched as it got really dark and long, and we were like, ‘That is a funnel cloud!’ ”

Bashaw and his neighbors watched as the funnel cloud appeared to dip as if to touch down before climbing, then dipping repeatedly as it made its way toward the ocean.

Many said they were surprised damage was not worse. No injuries were reported.

“Apparently we lucked out. It could have been a lot worse,” said Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol Sgt. Karl Vonvoigt. “We had some boats blown away from the docks, but . . . no major damages to any boats.” He said a fireboat was used to drag loose craft back to their docks.

In Garden Grove, the storm produced hail, some stones the size of small marbles. Barry Van Horn, who recently moved from Texas, was enjoying a football game on television when he noticed hail pinging onto his roof and his two cars.

“In Texas,” Van Horn said above the din of thunderclaps, “they have hail the size of golf balls. But it’s very warm here, and still it started hailing. Weird weather.”

Also in Garden Grove, high winds tore off a tree branch that in turn ripped into a power line, temporarily leaving 2,000 customers without electricity, said Clara Potes-Fellow, spokeswoman for Southern California Edison.

The outage happened shortly after 1 p.m. and was fully restored by 1:45 p.m., Potes-Fellow said. The affected area was bordered roughly by Orangewood and Lampson avenues and Magnolia and Nutwood streets, she said.

Meteorologist John Sherwin of WeatherData, which provides forecast information for The Times, said it appeared that winds blowing from the northeast and southeast formed a “fairly intense” storm.

“This is a weird one,” he said.

Today’s weather is expected to feature strong Santa Ana winds, especially in the inland canyons, with sustained winds of up to 30 mph. Gusts could reach 50 mph, Sherwin said. Temperatures probably will climb only into the 50s inland and into the 60s along the coast. Overnight lows are expected to be in the upper 30s inland and the lower 40s along the coast.

The cooler temperatures, combined with the wind, “could make it feel a lot colder than it already is,” Sherwin said.

Tuesday should see the winds die down to about 10 mph and the mercury climb a few degrees, he said.

Wednesday morning is expected to be sunny, but variable cloudiness will take over the skies in the afternoon, possibly bringing light rain Christmas Eve night and into the morning on Christmas Day, he said.

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Also contributing to this report were Times staff writers David Reyes and Marcida Dodson.