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Gusts up to 80 mph fell trees, electricity
By Jutta Biggerstaff / Hi-Desert Star
MORONGO BASIN — Violent winds and soaking rains lashed the Morongo Basin this weekend, toppling trees and sending garbage cans scuttling down neighborhood streets. The powerful winds also rearranged patio furniture and caused roof damage to many residences.
Most damage reports were minor, but Yucca Valley resident Carol Post received considerable damage to the porch of her mobile home in the 55000 block of Yucca Trail Monday afternoon when a large blue spruce crashed down on her house.
“About 12:30 p.m. I was in my kitchen when I heard cracking,” she said. “After two days of such strong winds I wondered, ‘Now what’s breaking on my porch?’ By the time I got to my sliding door to the porch, part of the tree had already hit.”
According to Park Richardson, owner of the Roy Williams Airport in Joshua Tree, winds Monday remained steady around 35 mph with some higher gusts, but the biggest blows occurred Sunday with winds of 40 mph gusting to 60 mph, with two or three gusts of 80 mph, hurricane strength winds according to the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Ray Yeager, local weather aficionado, also reported sustained winds Sunday of up to 40 mph and a wind gust of 70 mph in Joshua Tree and 60 mph in Pioneertown.
Bill Harvey of Joshua Tree said a gust of wind blew down his chinaberry tree and took out his chain-link fence about 2:15 a.m. Monday.
“It just missed my neighbor’s garage,” he said with relief.
The drenching rain appeared to cause fewer problems than the wind, though amounts were substantial. Yeager reported 1.68 inches of rain in Yucca Valley and 1.45 inches in Pioneertown. Yucca Valley resident Bob Conners reported 2.16 inches in his rain gauge.
Besides property damage, the wind contributed to power outages that plagued thousands of Morongo Basin residents.
Around 11:30 p.m. Sunday a motorist called the sheriff’s department and reported two power poles had toppled and were blocking traffic on Twentynine Palms Highway near Indio Avenue, said Sgt. Mike Lewis.
The poles blocked traffic for several hours while Southern California Edison crews worked to get power restored to areas of Joshua Tree.
The crews worked through the night Sunday and into Monday afternoon to restore power, said Vanessa McGrady, Edison spokesperson.
“Most of the outages were caused by downed wires and were wind-related,” she said.
The bulk of the outages lasted 30 seconds or less, but some people experienced lengthy outages. Hundreds of customers went without power from 2:30 a.m. Sunday till late Monday afternoon.
Dale Holloway, who lives in the 61000 block of Onaga Trail in Joshua Tree, said the roaring wind woke him up about midnight Sunday.
“The wind was blowing so hard we couldn’t sleep,” he said. “About 2:30 a.m. the electricity went off and didn’t come back on till Monday afternoon.”
He said his palo verde tree went down, a panel from his swamp cooler blew off and his garden shed exploded.
Most damage reports were minor, but Yucca Valley resident Carol Post received considerable damage to the porch of her mobile home in the 55000 block of Yucca Trail Monday afternoon when a large blue spruce crashed down on her house.
“About 12:30 p.m. I was in my kitchen when I heard cracking,” she said. “After two days of such strong winds I wondered, ‘Now what’s breaking on my porch?’ By the time I got to my sliding door to the porch, part of the tree had already hit.”
According to Park Richardson, owner of the Roy Williams Airport in Joshua Tree, winds Monday remained steady around 35 mph with some higher gusts, but the biggest blows occurred Sunday with winds of 40 mph gusting to 60 mph, with two or three gusts of 80 mph, hurricane strength winds according to the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Ray Yeager, local weather aficionado, also reported sustained winds Sunday of up to 40 mph and a wind gust of 70 mph in Joshua Tree and 60 mph in Pioneertown.
Bill Harvey of Joshua Tree said a gust of wind blew down his chinaberry tree and took out his chain-link fence about 2:15 a.m. Monday.
“It just missed my neighbor’s garage,” he said with relief.
The drenching rain appeared to cause fewer problems than the wind, though amounts were substantial. Yeager reported 1.68 inches of rain in Yucca Valley and 1.45 inches in Pioneertown. Yucca Valley resident Bob Conners reported 2.16 inches in his rain gauge.
Besides property damage, the wind contributed to power outages that plagued thousands of Morongo Basin residents.
Around 11:30 p.m. Sunday a motorist called the sheriff’s department and reported two power poles had toppled and were blocking traffic on Twentynine Palms Highway near Indio Avenue, said Sgt. Mike Lewis.
The poles blocked traffic for several hours while Southern California Edison crews worked to get power restored to areas of Joshua Tree.
The crews worked through the night Sunday and into Monday afternoon to restore power, said Vanessa McGrady, Edison spokesperson.
“Most of the outages were caused by downed wires and were wind-related,” she said.
The bulk of the outages lasted 30 seconds or less, but some people experienced lengthy outages. Hundreds of customers went without power from 2:30 a.m. Sunday till late Monday afternoon.
Dale Holloway, who lives in the 61000 block of Onaga Trail in Joshua Tree, said the roaring wind woke him up about midnight Sunday.
“The wind was blowing so hard we couldn’t sleep,” he said. “About 2:30 a.m. the electricity went off and didn’t come back on till Monday afternoon.”
He said his palo verde tree went down, a panel from his swamp cooler blew off and his garden shed exploded.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of hidesertstar.com.
mandybug wrote on Feb 9, 2009 1:00 PM:
" Sylvia was a very loved friend of mine. I was so blessed to know her in the little amount of time she had. I spent a lot of days at her home with her, and she spent many nights sleeping over at my house. I love looking through my pictures of her. She will forever be missed... "
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simplybohemian wrote on Jan 26, 2009 10:09 AM:
Shalow was heavily involved.
I hope Her family will find the peace they deserve. "