Strong winds sweep through parts of California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Strong winds are raking parts of California on Wednesday, making travel difficult on some highways and raising the prospect of downed trees and power outages. The National Weather Service says a gust topped 70 mph in the hills north of San Francisco Bay and another gust hit 81 mph in northern Los Angeles County. The powerful winds were being caused by high pressure over the interior of the West creating flow toward the coast and offshore. KSBW reports a fire erupted on the Big Sur coast but was held to about 2 acres.