San Diego County edged closer to drought on Tuesday, lashed by fierce and damaging Santa Ana winds that further dried out a region that hasn’t seen long, deep rains since March.

The storm that brought down big rigs on Interstate 8, sparked wildfires and canceled schools in 10 rural counties, could be followed by weak weather in Santa Anas on Sunday and next Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

It could drizzle briefly on Thursday. However, forecast models suggest the region will otherwise remain largely dry through Christmas Eve and possibly New Year’s Eve. The jet stream will likely prevent large northern storms from reaching Southern California.

“It could be a very slow start to the winter after the hot summer (we’ve had),” said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist with the weather service.

Santa Ana winds typically come from the north-northeast, which is not conducive to carrying them all the way to the coast. But Tuesday’s winds were mostly from the east and followed a fairly clear path almost to the sea.

They squeezed over mountain passes that helped them gain speed.

“It’s like putting your thumb over the end of a garden hose,” said John Suk, a weather service meteorologist. “The water flows faster and then doesn’t sink far away.”

That effect was seen on Viejas Mountain, where winds whipped the western flank of the peak Tuesday morning, rattling bushes near the 4,187-foot peak. Down in nearby Alpine there was only a mild breeze.

Sill Hill near Ramona reported a gust of 95 mph – just 1 mph below the strength of a Category 2 hurricane. It was the strongest gust reported across Southern California on Tuesday and the Santa Anas largely met.

On Interstate 8 east of Alpine, wind speeds reached 71 miles per hour, creating a nightmare for drivers. Gusts toppled five large oil rigs, temporarily paralyzing traffic, and dozens more stopped to wait out the wind.

Doug Aguillard, a videographer for OnScene.TV, said he saw four of the big rigs that crashed Tuesday. “This is just crazy,” he said. “These truckers won’t stop. …There aren’t even any gusts. It’s just constant.”

This part of the county was also the site of a worrisome brush fire that broke out late this morning southwest of Barrett Junction, a small community off State Route 94 in East County.

About 175 firefighters and at least four helicopters were dispatched to the so-called Border 79 fire on the northwest side of Tecate Peak. Officials said it was too windy for tankers to be deep enough to drop water or fire retardant.

Evacuations were briefly ordered south of SR-94 from Dulzura Summit to east of Barrett Junction. Even after the order was lifted, officials said residents should be prepared to leave if conditions change.

Investigators are trying to determine what started the fire, which charred 24 acres, a Cal Fire spokesman said. By early afternoon, firefighters had contained the fire to 50 percent.

The risk of a forest fire was increased by low relative humidity, which had fallen to 5 to 15% by early afternoon.

Meteorologists correctly predicted the start and path of the storm on Tuesday.

San Diego Gas & Electric notified more than 117,000 of its customers over the weekend that it may temporarily shut off power to reduce the risk of wildfires and that outages could last a day or longer. Such outages are known as public safety shutdowns – shutting down power lines to reduce the risk that strong winds could knock them into dry vegetation and start a wildfire.

The warning began to take effect Monday and resulted in outages in more than 40 communities, including Alpine, Julian, El Cajon, Escondido, Lakeside and Ramona. As of late Tuesday, more than 46,000 homes were without power and there was a chance they wouldn’t get power back for another day or two.

Shortly after 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, as winds picked up, firefighters responded to a brush fire on Rangeland Road north of Highland Valley Road in the Ramona area.

The fire, which was driven by wind and burning in a grassy area, moved to a bank area where it progressed more slowly and firefighters were able to gain the upper hand, Cal Fire Capt. Mike Cornette said.

The power outages forced the closure of Harrah’s Resort Southern California in the Valley Center area, but the casino and resort welcomed guests with restored power Tuesday afternoon.

Staff writers Maura Fox and Rob Nikolewski contributed to this report.

Originally published: December 10, 2024 at 11:15 am PST