Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Strong winds whip the San Gabriel Valley, kicking up dust and ash into the air - Pasadena Star-News

Strong winds whip the San Gabriel Valley, kicking up dust and ash into the air - Pasadena Star-News

Strong winds whip the San Gabriel Valley, kicking up dust and ash into the air


Strong winds whipped the San Gabriel Valley Tuesday afternoon, kicking up dust and ash from the recent Station Fire into the air.

The winds are expected to peak -- reaching gusts of 40 m.p.h. -- Tuesday night and continue until Wednesday morning, according to Bonnie Bartling, a weather specialist at the National Weather Service.

The NWS released a wind advisory for the San Gabriel Valley that is expected to last until Wednesday at 11 a.m., Bartling said.

The winds will be even stronger in the San Gabriel Valley mountains, where gusts of winds may reach 70 m.p.h.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District warned residents near recently-burned areas, such as the Angeles National Forest, that the winds could kick up ash into the air, reducing air quality.

Residents in these areas should avoid vigorous activity, and people with respiratory or heart disease, the young and elderly should remain indoors, according to the AQMD.

The dust worried local residents who thought the dust signaled not winds but fires, said Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian.

The fire department has been receiving calls all Tuesday afternoon asking if there was a fire, she said.

By Tuesday evening, Derderian had received no reports of powerlines or property damage caused by the wind.


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