Santa Ana winds wallop Southern California

Winds, with gusts of 97 mph, whipped through Southern California, downing electric lines, spreading fires and knocking down trees. Power was knocked out to 80,000 customers and travel was disrupted at Los Angeles International Airport as a severe Santa Ana wind walloped the region. An AccuWeather.com meteorologist described it as a "once-a-decade-type windstorm." Gas pumps at a Shell gas station in Pasadena were crumpled when a large tree fell and a two-acre grass fire caused by downed power lines at Occidental College took nearly two hours to put out, the Los Angeles Times reported. A gust of 56 mph was recorded in downtown Los Angeles before midnight, the National Weather Service said. Wind gusts of up to 65 mph were reported in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. The largest gust, at 97 mph, was recorded north of Los Angeles in the Angeles National Forest, the newspaper said. The Santa Ana winds caused havoc Wednesday night at the airport, which lost power for a time. Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said gusts were 40 knots or more, creating dangerous crosswinds as pilots attempted to land. Two runways were temporarily closed because of debris Wednesday night, Gregor said. High winds were expected Thursday in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and far western Arizona, AccuWeather.com said.