Strong winds blast valley overnight
Strong winds delivered a blow to the Coachella Valley.
“Especially when you’re on an airplane, it was pretty rough yesterday coming in,” said Sue Jensen who flew in yesterday from Portland.
“You hear it on your house, we live up against the hill so it was pretty loud,” said Palm Desert resident Brad Talt.
“There’s lot of dust and sand blowing in the I-10 corridor and side streets here in town,” said Jorge Rodriguez, Battalion Chief for Cal Fire.
Gusts reached up to 50 miles per hour in parts of the valley, making for a difficult night’s sleep.
“It kept me up all night, the wind. The windows were banging,” Jensen said.
“When you get those really great winds where part of the palm trees come down, that’s when it really wakes you up,”
The howling winds uprooted trees in Palm Desert and Desert Hot Springs. But luckily, no injuries or significant damage was reported.
“Although there is a lot of debris on the surface streets, a lot of palm prongs flying around,” Rodriguez said.
The winds have died down considerably since Thursday night but Cal Fire still urges caution during these conditions, especially on the roads.
“If you don’t need to, please don’t drive. it’s getting really dusty, visibility is low so unless you really have to with all the debris flying around it’d be a good idea to maybe stay home for the day,” said Rodriguez.
