Gusts exceeding 55 mph tore through the Crescenta Valley, downing trees and power lines.

By Mary O’KEEFE

Winds whipped through the San Gabriel Mountains on Monday night/Tuesday morning, slamming into the Crescenta Valley causing damage and leaving a lot of debris on the roads.

CVW readers reported fences blown down, trees toppled, broken limbs of all sizes and downed power lines causing outages.

A resident on Sunset Avenue and Mary Street was surprised when he walked out his front door and saw his oak tree uprooted and lying in his front yard.

“I didn’t hear anything,” he said.

The oak tree toppled over from its roots onto the iron fence in front of the house. No one was injured.

Another tree that was uprooted in the 2900 block of Gertrude also damaged power lines causing outages in the area.

“We responded to several communities,” said Stephen Frasher, spokesman for Los Angeles County Public Works. “[We responded to] 12 trees downed countywide.”

That included the tree on Gertrude and a tree on Waltonia Drive.

Students at the Armenian Sisters’ Academy got the day off after the roof was blown off two buildings on the campus. With the safety of the students the priority, the administration canceled classes on Tuesday as they cleaned the area.

“We want to make sure it is safe,” said Principal Dr. Julio Tellez.

Calmer winds came from the northeast on Wednesday, but on Tuesday the north winds returned and were strong.

“[Tuesday morning] the winds peaked in Altadena at the 1700 foot elevation at 60 miles per hour at 2:21 a.m.,” said Joe Sirard, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service and Southern California Edison have sensors that measure winds along specific areas within the San Gabriel Mountains.

“A sensor from SCE at Eaton Canyon [recorded] 58 miles per hour winds at the 944-foot level,” he added. “And at Rubio Canyon [in Altadena] winds were 46 miles per hour at 6:20 a.m. That was at 1600 feet.”

As the day went on the winds decreased to 30-to-40 mph in other areas along the foothills.

Residents were also dealing with cold temperatures including frost advisories issued on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

The weather looks clear through Saturday with seasonable temperatures for the most part.

“Some above-normal temperatures [are expected] on Friday and Saturday,” Sirard said. The temperatures could be up into the 70 degrees Fahrenheit those days then back down to cooler temperatures Sunday and Monday.

“There could be a slight chance of showers on Sunday to Monday,” he said, “[with] another slight chance of morning showers [on Tuesday].”

This bouncing from above-normal temperatures to lower ones, including frost warnings, are normal for this type of year, Sirard said.

Although there may be some northerly winds on Sunday and Monday they will not reach the velocity of this week’s winds.

  Mary Okeefe