Blowin’ in the Wind

High winds with peak speeds exceeding 70 mph in mountain passes and canyons tore through the San Fernando Valley on Friday, upending power poles, toppling trees and overturning at least one big rig.

Fierce gusts also rattled windows, set off alarms, flung down merchants’ signs and mangled Christmas decorations hanging from shops and homes.

At Sunshine Canyon Landfill near Granada Hills, 50-mph winds blew dust into adjacent neighborhoods and forced Browning-Ferris Industries to close the dump at 8:30 a.m. As a result, the city had to divert hundreds of trash trucks to other landfills.

In Chatsworth, a tall pole holding safety netting at a golf driving range snapped in half after being buffeted by gusts of up to 60 mph. Only the netting--held aloft by three dozen similar supports--kept the broken pole from falling. Fearing the wind could break other poles and fling steel debris into neighboring businesses, Los Angeles city fire and police officials evacuated about 250 workers from the area for an hour.

At about 9:40 a.m. the winds caught a semitrailer traveling eastbound on the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Chatsworth and slammed it onto its side. No injuries were reported.

More than 2,000 Valley customers lost electricity for several hours and darkened signals snarled traffic at several major intersections, including Burbank Boulevard and White Oak Avenue in Encino and Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Sherman Way in Woodland Hills.

There was only one weather-related car accident--at the corner of Owensmouth Avenue and Sherman Way--according to LAPD Valley Traffic officers. The traffic lights were not functioning at that intersection, and two people suffered involved in a resulting wreck had minor injuries.

The big problem was trees. Gusts tore down trees and large branches at more than 150 locations throughout the Valley, and city Public Works crews labored throughout the day to clear roadways and protect power lines.

A 60-foot-tall tree fell early Friday morning in Santa Clarita, blocking the driveway of the sheriff’s station and public library in the 23700 block of Magic Mountain Parkway. Twenty-five firefighters and prison workers used chain saws to clear the driveway.

Weather experts say the winds, stirred up by high-pressure areas in the Great Basin in Nevada, could continue to cause havoc until this morning.

The winds, which whirled tumbleweeds across intersections and pelted cars with pebbles, also whipped up fears concerning controversial Sunshine Canyon Landfill.

“It’s what we’ve said all along--when the wind starts to blow, the dust comes out of that dump and there is nothing you can do about it,” said Greig Smith, chief-of-staff for City Councilman Hal Bernson.

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Bernson, a longtime foe of the landfill, called in county, city and state enforcement officials after his office received six complaints from residents that heavy dust was blowing off the landfill operating on unincorporated county land.

After receiving 15 complaints, the South Coast Air Quality Management Agency sent an inspector to the landfill, but the agency decided not to issue citations.

County health officials told the landfill operators that they would have to stop the dust and trash from blowing or close down for the day. BFI decided to shut down, said Jack Petralia, director of environmental protection for the county.

Smith said the incident shows the potential problems that would be caused if the landfill expands to within a mile of homes in Granada Hills.

The City Council is scheduled Wednesday to take a final vote on approving the expansion. The council voted 9 to 5 in an initial vote two months ago to support the plan.

There were no significant fires in the Valley, but Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said extra units were being deployed to fire-prone areas like Porter Ranch, Sun Valley and Canoga Park.

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Wells said dry conditions throughout the region increased the danger of massive brush fires.

The Santa Ana winds, spinning clockwise around a high-pressure weather cell parked over Nevada, followed a fast-moving frontal system that dropped light snow in the San Gabriel Mountains near Gorman on Thursday night. It was some of the first snow of the season in Los Angeles County. The gusty blasts were expected to drive the windchill factor down to zero before dawn today in some of the coldest areas of the Tehachapi, San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains.

Stacey Johnstone, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the winds should continue this morning, decreasing in the afternoon as the high-pressure cell starts moving east. High temperatures in the low- to mid-70s are expected today in the Valley after overnight lows in the 40s and low 50s.

Mostly sunny, warmer weather is forecast for Sunday and Monday, with Valley highs from the mid-70s to near 80 degrees.

“It really should be nice by Sunday,” Johnstone said. “The winds shouldn’t be a problem by then.”

Times staff writers Eric Malnic, Patrick McGreevy and Caitlin Liu contributed to this story.