SLO County winds reached 80 mph during storm. That’s like hurricane levels
The powerful winds winds that tore through San Luis Obispo County on Sunday reached speeds as high as 80 mph — equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane — downing power lines and toppling trees onto streets.
“It was pretty impressive,” meteorologist John Lindsey told The Tribune on Monday. “It was definitely one of the windiest days I’ve seen before.”
The wind was part of an intense atmospheric river storm that battered the county over the weekend.
In the Santa Lucia Mountains, 80 mph gusts of wind buffeted the PG&E station at Falcon Road at 9:20 a.m. Meanwhile, wind speeds reached 77 mph on Mount Lowe at 10 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
The wind wasn’t as intense in the interior valleys. At 10:10 a.m., speeds peaked at 69 mph at Lewis Ranch Road east of Santa Margarita, the Weather Service said.
The San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport recorded 61 mph gusts of wind at 9:02 a.m., while wind speeds hit 68 mph on Hillcrest Drive in Arroyo Grande and 66 mph on Cayucos Drive, according to the Weather Service.
In Baywood Park, Lindsey recorded wind speeds of 52 miles per hour at his house — breaking his neighborhood’s wind speed record, he said.
“Speaking with my neighbors, everybody’s house was rocking,” Lindsey said. “We’re just not used to winds of that magnitude here.”
What caused the high winds?
An intense area of low pressure in the Pacific Ocean combined with high pressure to the east over Idaho and Nevada to produce the strong winds on the Central Coast, Lindsey said.
“Those are some of the steepest pressure gradients I’ve ever seen before. The steeper the pressure the gradient, the higher the wind,” Lindsey said.
The winds were so strong, the National Weather Service even issued a warning in Monterey for the hurricane-speed gusts, which exceed 74 mph, according to Lindsey. He had never seen such a warning before on the West Coast, he said.
“It was startling,” Lindsey said. “You don’t see that very often.”
Wind will blow through San Luis Obispo County on Monday and Tuesday as the storm continues, but “nothing compared to what we went through on Sunday — that’s a pretty rare occurrence,” Lindsey said.
On Monday, San Luis Obispo could expect a south wind of 10 mph, while winds could reach 15 mph in Paso Robles, the National Weather Service said. The county could be sprinkled by scattered rain showers on Monday with the potential for thunderstorms continuing into the night.
Rain showers and thunder storms were also forecast for Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch from Monday to Tuesday as well.
