High wind threat to shift into nation's midsection
Howling winds triggered explosive wildfire growth in California Monday, as gusts in the 60- to 80-mph range were common in the Southwest. Forecasters say dangerous winds will remain a concern through Wednesday.
By
Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Oct 13, 2021 3:47 AM EST
When severe weather strikes it can bring strong winds along with it. If you’re not sure what to do when the wind picks up, check out this informative video.
Strong winds pounded parts of the Southwest as a massive storm pushed into the western United States early this week. AccuWeather forecasters say that while the worst is over for some residents, others cannot let their guard down just yet.
As the storm that is responsible for ongoing snow in the Rockies and gusty winds across the West tracks eastward into midweek, the wind threat across some parts of the Southwest will begin to subside.
The main areas that will finally receive relief from the threat of damaging winds are California and Nevada.
"Strong winds will move eastward into much of the Plains and eastern Rockies through Wednesday and are again expected to produce widespread wind gusts of 40-60 mph with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 100 mph," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva said.
Areas at risk for these strong, even damaging wind gusts through Wednesday include hundreds of miles of roadways like interstates 25, 40, 70 and 80, as well as cities such as Rapid City, South Dakota, and Denver.
Along with the threat for localized damage to trees, power lines, homes and other structures, high winds can also lead to a host of other treacherous issues including blowing dust. Blowing dust can reduce visibility and make travel difficult to nearly impossible depending on the intensity of the dust.
"This can be dangerous or even deadly in more ways than one, as high crosswinds can make it difficult for drivers to maintain control while blowing dust will greatly reduce visibility on roads," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jessica Storm cautioned.
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Not only can disruptive winds impact travel for residents traversing portions of the Southwest and the Plains, but there is also a deeper concern regarding impacts to the shipping and transportation industry at large.
"Significant slowdowns or even temporarily shutdown of rail and roadways during the height of the gusty winds have the potential to significantly worsen strained supply chains at a critical time leading up to the holiday season," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said.
Damaging winds left a mark Monday
The strongest winds recorded Monday centered on California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. Mammoth Mountain, a popular ski area, recorded a gust of 78 mph Monday as strong winds screamed across the range.
Wind gusts in the 60- to 80-mph range were common across the Southwest, especially across the higher elevations, Monday. Stronger wind gusts did also make it down to the lower elevations including around Coachella in Southern California, where a wind gust of 47 mph was recorded.
The strongest wind gusts reported across California on Monday.
High winds prompted California's Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) to instate a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) on Monday, leaving Californians across 23 counties in the dark in an effort to prevent the start of new wildfires due to electrical transmission equipment. Thousands of customers in California remained without power as of Tuesday morning, according to PG&E.
A worst-case scenario concern became a grim reality Monday as fierce winds worked to explode fire growth for parts of wildfire-weary California.
Firefighters battling the newly formed Alisal Fire near Santa Barbara, California, had little help from Mother Nature as they tried to contain the blaze. The Alisal Fire began Monday afternoon and by Monday night it had exploded in size to more than 3,000 acres with no containment progress.
According to a report from InciWeb, winds at the site of the fire were sustained between 30-35 mph with gusts up 70 mph Monday, which caused the fire to spread at a rapid rate of speed.
The cause of the Alisal Fire remained unknown as of Tuesday, but road closures and evacuation orders were in effect for portions of the area, according to CNN.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, DIRECTVstream, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeatherNOW is streaming on Roku and XUMO.
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News / Severe Weather
High wind threat to shift into nation's midsection
Howling winds triggered explosive wildfire growth in California Monday, as gusts in the 60- to 80-mph range were common in the Southwest. Forecasters say dangerous winds will remain a concern through Wednesday.
By Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Oct 13, 2021 3:47 AM EST
When severe weather strikes it can bring strong winds along with it. If you’re not sure what to do when the wind picks up, check out this informative video.
Strong winds pounded parts of the Southwest as a massive storm pushed into the western United States early this week. AccuWeather forecasters say that while the worst is over for some residents, others cannot let their guard down just yet.
As the storm that is responsible for ongoing snow in the Rockies and gusty winds across the West tracks eastward into midweek, the wind threat across some parts of the Southwest will begin to subside.
The main areas that will finally receive relief from the threat of damaging winds are California and Nevada.
"Strong winds will move eastward into much of the Plains and eastern Rockies through Wednesday and are again expected to produce widespread wind gusts of 40-60 mph with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 100 mph," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva said.
Areas at risk for these strong, even damaging wind gusts through Wednesday include hundreds of miles of roadways like interstates 25, 40, 70 and 80, as well as cities such as Rapid City, South Dakota, and Denver.
Along with the threat for localized damage to trees, power lines, homes and other structures, high winds can also lead to a host of other treacherous issues including blowing dust. Blowing dust can reduce visibility and make travel difficult to nearly impossible depending on the intensity of the dust.
"This can be dangerous or even deadly in more ways than one, as high crosswinds can make it difficult for drivers to maintain control while blowing dust will greatly reduce visibility on roads," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jessica Storm cautioned.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Not only can disruptive winds impact travel for residents traversing portions of the Southwest and the Plains, but there is also a deeper concern regarding impacts to the shipping and transportation industry at large.
"Significant slowdowns or even temporarily shutdown of rail and roadways during the height of the gusty winds have the potential to significantly worsen strained supply chains at a critical time leading up to the holiday season," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said.
Damaging winds left a mark Monday
The strongest winds recorded Monday centered on California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. Mammoth Mountain, a popular ski area, recorded a gust of 78 mph Monday as strong winds screamed across the range.
Wind gusts in the 60- to 80-mph range were common across the Southwest, especially across the higher elevations, Monday. Stronger wind gusts did also make it down to the lower elevations including around Coachella in Southern California, where a wind gust of 47 mph was recorded.
The strongest wind gusts reported across California on Monday.
High winds prompted California's Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) to instate a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) on Monday, leaving Californians across 23 counties in the dark in an effort to prevent the start of new wildfires due to electrical transmission equipment. Thousands of customers in California remained without power as of Tuesday morning, according to PG&E.
A worst-case scenario concern became a grim reality Monday as fierce winds worked to explode fire growth for parts of wildfire-weary California.
Firefighters battling the newly formed Alisal Fire near Santa Barbara, California, had little help from Mother Nature as they tried to contain the blaze. The Alisal Fire began Monday afternoon and by Monday night it had exploded in size to more than 3,000 acres with no containment progress.
According to a report from InciWeb, winds at the site of the fire were sustained between 30-35 mph with gusts up 70 mph Monday, which caused the fire to spread at a rapid rate of speed.
The cause of the Alisal Fire remained unknown as of Tuesday, but road closures and evacuation orders were in effect for portions of the area, according to CNN.
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, DIRECTVstream, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeatherNOW is streaming on Roku and XUMO.
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