Damaging wind gusts swept in from the deserts Sunday, as Southern California got a late-season dose of Santa Ana conditions.
A peak gust of 70 miles per hour was recorded overnight at Laguna Peak,a mountaintop 14 miles west of Malibu. Newhall Pass, just north of San Fernando, clocked a 56 mile per hour gust.
Top gusts of 46 mph hit Agoura Hills, and 38 mph raked Saugus.
A venerable old pine tree in Santa Monica, up to 100 feet tall, toppled onto three parked cars on 11th Street, totaling two of them, police said. And a tree split apart and fell onto the Zuma Beach access road in Malibu, a resident reported.
The CHP warned drivers of trucks, RVs and other large vehicles that wind gusts could topple them on the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway. A similarwarning went out for Interstate 5 on the Grapevine, near Castaic.
The National Weather Service said a sharp difference in air pressure between low and high pressure systems sweeping across California was responsible for the gusts. The strongest winds were expected in the Santa Clarita Valley, and peak gusts of 60 mph were expected all morning and into the afternoon.
The high wind warning was expected to be in effect through 4 p.m. Sunday, the NWS said.
