Southland’s Heavy Winds to Take a Breather

Blustery winds that have swept the Southland, downing power lines, toppling a loaded 18-wheel truck and causing headaches for firefighters, were expected to diminish today, forecasters said.

Gusts ranged up to 40 m.p.h. in mountain passes and canyons Friday making it a dangerous day for motorists.

Drivers in the Cajon Pass in San Bernardino County crept through clouds of blowing dust. Winds also blew over a big-rig carrying steel on the Golden State Freeway near Castaic. No injuries were reported.

Power lines were downed in Culver City and cables from a window-washing unit fell on power lines in West Hollywood, causing a two-hour outage that affected about 950 customers.

Strong winds also sent burning embers from a West Los Angeles apartment house garage fire onto nearby roofs, starting two small blazes.

“High winds obviously contributed to the situation,” county Fire Inspector Joel Harrison said. The fires on Overhill Drive were extinguished without injury.

Pleasant weekend weather with good air quality is expected as light winds continue to cleanse the Los Angeles Basin.

National Weather Service forecasters said the gusts would decrease to 10 to 15 m.p.h. today as a low-pressure storm system over the southern Rocky Mountains moves east.

Mostly clear skies were expected today before a weak weather front moves into the Southland on Sunday. Daytime temperatures over the weekend will be in the low 70s.

Nights will continue cold with temperatures ranging between the upper 30s and the upper 40s.