Heavy winds across Stanislaus bring down trees and utility lines, causing outages
Heavy wind gusts across Stanislaus County on Monday night and Tuesday morning brought down utility lines and trees and limbs, which did some property damage and blocked at least a few roadways.
The California Highway Patrol’s online traffic incident page listed hazard after hazard, including a pop-up canopy that blew onto southbound Highway 99 in Ceres late Tuesday morning.
Through the foothills and higher elevations of the Sierra, strong winds toppled trees and power lines and caused the closure of Yosemite National Park.
The maximum wind gusts recorded by the National Weather Service since midnight Monday were 32 mph in Modesto but 47 mph in southern parts of Stanislaus County.
At Mount Elizabeth, a couple of miles northeast of Twain Harte, gusts reached 84 mph.
To the east, the Dodge Ridge snow sports resort was closed Tuesday and reported that operations will resume “once hazards and damages are assessed and mitigated by our Mountain Operations team.” The wind event also took out Dodge’s phone lines and Internet service, it said.
About midmorning Tuesday, Modesto Irrigation District spokeswoman Melissa Williams said one wind-related power outage late Monday night affected parts of west Modesto but all service was restored. “It’s been quiet thus far this morning, however, as always, our crews stand ready to respond to any outages,” she told The Bee in a text. Customers can call MID at 209-526-8222 to report power failures.
A Pacific Gas & Electric customer told The Bee that electricity was out to about 260 homes in the Dixon Road area east of Oakdale for a few hours starting about 8:30 a.m.
The Turlock Irrigation District reported Tuesday that its crews were working on a couple of outages in its service area. Updates are posted at tid.org/outages.
The utility district’s largest incident appeared to be the toppling of a private, not city-maintained, tree at Central and Pleasant avenues in Ceres, which occurred about 8:19 a.m. and affected 96 customers. Power was estimated to be restored by 2 p.m.
On Pleasant just off Central, the towering conifer was uprooted by wind and fell across the street. It snagged power and phone lines and came down on a couple of vehicles. It wasn’t immediately clear what damage it may have done to vehicles, which were largely shrouded with branches as a Ceres public works crew cut them away to clear the road.
An outbuilding at the base of the trunk was damaged where the roots came up, according to a Ceres Fire Department battalion chief, but the tree’s fall did not appear to damage any residences.
For Modesto, a National Weather Service wind advisory was to remain in effect until 7 p.m. Tuesday.
By evening, winds were expected to die down to about 11 mph, and then to 6-9 mph Wednesday.
Winds aren’t the only thing that will decrease this week, the forecast says. So will temperatures.
High temperatures recorded by the Modesto Irrigation District recently include 76 degrees Monday and 73 degrees Sunday. Tuesday’s high was expected to near 66.
The highs this week will decline steadily: near 63 Wednesday, 62 Thursday, 55 Friday, 54 Saturday and Sunday, and 51 Monday.
The weather service says Friday morning will carry a 30% chance of showers before the day becomes partly sunny. The forecast says Modesto could receive between a tenth and a quarter inch of rain.
Saturday and Sunday are expected to be sunny, turning to mostly cloudy Sunday night, with a chance of rain that continues into Monday morning.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 2:10 PM.
