High winds topple trees, tip over big rigs, blow out windows of San Francisco skyscraper

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tuesday afternoon's high winds were downing trees, knocking down power lines, and blowing out windows in a San Francisco skyscraper.

A high wind warning was in effect for the entire region from the North Bay to the Central Coast until 11 p.m. Tuesday. Wind gusts of 50 mph and above were being felt in the valleys and topping 70 mph along the coast and hills above 1,000 feet.

"Strongest gusts so far have been in the higher terrain: 93 mph along the Bolinas Ridge, 88 mph in the hills above Los Gatos," said KPIX meteorologist Paul Heggen. "Closer to sea level, most gusts have been in the 50-60mph range, although SFO did record a 74 mph gust this afternoon."

Heggen said the while wind warning was until 11 p.m., winds should be significantly lighter already by about 7 p.m.

There were also gusts of 97 mph at  Mount Umunhum in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 93 mph along Mines Road in the East Bay; and 71 mph in the Las Trampas and Oakland hills  

The San Francisco Fire Department issued a shelter-in-place order on the 500 block of California Street around 2 p.m., warning local residents and workers of glass being blown out of a 52-story building located in the city's Financial District. No one was hurt in the incident.

SFFD spokesperson Capt. Jonathan Baxter said that management from 555 California has called a window company to assess the damage and possibly fix it.  

"Once they arrive on the scene we'll have a better idea when we can open the streets," said Baxter at 5:30 p.m.  

Streets were closed in the area and a shelter in place went into effect for buildings in the vicinity following the event.  

As of 5:30 p.m., Baxter said that people would be escorted out of buildings in the area by uniformed public safety personnel and taken to safety from the 400 block of Kearny Street, the 500 block of California Street, Montgomery Street between California Street and Pine Street, and Pine Street between Montgomery Street and Kearny Street.

As of 6 p.m., workers from the window company had arrived. All shelter-in-place and evacuation orders were lifted, though the 400 block of Kearny and the 500 block of California remained closed. There were no injuries in the incident.

Tuesday afternoon's high winds were downing trees and knocking down power lines all over the Bay Area. At the peak of the outages Tuesday afternoon, nearly 300,000 PG&E customers in the Bay Area were without power, most of them in the South Bay and East Bay. By 6 p.m., the outages were still topping 250,000. 

CHP issued a severe traffic alert in Richmond after an injury collision involving a tractor-trailer that was apparently blown over by high winds on eastbound I-580 on the Richmond San Rafael Bridge. 

The crash was first reported at around noon and initially, just the left and center lanes were blocked.

The Marin office of the CHP issued a wind advisory at around 2 p.m. prohibiting all high-profile vehicles allowed on the bridges at this time.

At around 2:15 p.m., all eastbound traffic on the span was halted. Traffic is being diverted to southbound US-101 and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Motorists are advised to expect delays and to use alternate routes to avoid the area. 

CHP and Caltrans officials had to line up a string of tow trucks across from the truck to provide a wind break as crews put the truck upright. The vehicle was removed and all eastbound lanes reopened at about 5:30 p.m.

In the East Bay, there were multiple trees and power lines down around Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill. In Union City, multiple trees toppled onto a condominium complex, leading to the evacuation of the entire complex.

Walnut Creek police urged people to avoid the area of Scots Lane between Elise Court and Green View Road due to trees blocking the roadway. Police also said to avoid the area of Homestead Avenue, which was blocked from Marshall Drive to Holly Street due to downed trees and powerlines, and the area of Huston Road and Camino Verde Street, as a 75-to-100-foot-tall tree was down in the road.

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Eastbound Ygnacio Valley Road at Wiget Drive was closed due to trees and power lines down. There are also trees down in the Boyd Road and Pleasant Hill Road area between Cleaveland Road and W. Hookston in Pleasant Hill, as well as in the area of Paso Nogal Park near Wildflower and Longfellow drives.

In Berkeley, police say motorists should avoid the 2900 block of Dwight Way east of Hillside Avenue (near the Clark Kerr campus) due to a fallen tree that took down powerlines.

In the South Bay, a tree blocked a stretch of Highway 85 near Fremont Avenue, prompting a closure of all southbound lanes. Around 2 p.m., one lane had reopened, with two lanes remaining blocked.

Downed trees were seen in communities across the South Bay, including Saratoga.

On the Peninsula, San Mateo police report downed trees and powerlines creating street closures on 9th Avenue, from Palm Avenue to S. El Camino and 12 Avenue from South B Street to S. Railroad Avenue.

A large tree knocked down by strong winds on Tuesday also blocked both directions of El Camino Real at Clark Drive in San Mateo, police said. The road was expected to be closed for at least an hour, police said in an advisory shortly before 2 p.m. 

Power lines were also down in Scotts Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in the area of 380 Bethany Drive. 

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