Wild storm passed, cleanup begins

A storm that was gone almost as quickly as it came Tuesday left destruction in its wake, and city crews worked furiously to clear massive messes, including a lot of fallen trees.

Close to 50 calls were made by 9 p.m. about trees blocking roadways, parking lots and driveways, Bill Harris, spokesman for the city's public works department, said Wednesday morning.

Harris said city crews — many who had stayed on from afternoon shifts — worked through the night to clear areas blocked by debris.

"Restoring safe travel is our main priority and we're working hard to clear the public right of way, but we're asking everyone to slow down," he said. "There is a lot of debris left on the roads."

Harris estimated access to most areas would be restored by the close of business Wednesday, but it would take days to clear all the toppled tree trunks and branches. An estimate of the damage caused during the storm has not been compiled, he said.

Fallen trees crushed cars, closed roads and fell in public parks and shopping centers.

In Pacific Beach, lightning set fire to two or three palm trees.

In Kearny Mesa, a massive tree came down on Balboa Avenue west of Ruffin Road and struck a car. The driver was shaken but not injured. Tree branches littered Montgomery Field and several planes were upended on the tarmac including one that was tossed over a fence onto two cars. Other aircraft were damaged, some when a hanger shifted in the wind.

Harris said at least a dozen planes were damaged, but more might be reported as owners assess their property.

View the photo gallery: Wild weather hits county

Palm fronds littered Interstate 8 westbound in Hotel Circle as motorists navigated around them, and a downed eucalyptus tree blocked all lanes of northbound state Route 163 near Washington Street during the Tuesday evening commute, backing up southbound traffic for miles.

Several trees were downed in Rancho San Diego shopping centers. Cal Fire Capt. Kendall Bortisser said trees smashed cars in a Bank of America lot on Avocado Boulevard at Calle Verde, and other trees came down in the California Trust & Savings lot. Fallen branches were piled high and warning tape blocked most of the entrances to the retail center hours after the storm had passed.

Ward Canyon Park in Kensington, the area surrounding the North Park Recreation Facility and Old Trolley Barn Park were also in shambles. Maintenance crews will be assessing damages over the next several days, Harris said.

Downed trees also took down power lines, and were cited as the source of many power outages.

The storms left more than 15,000 utility customers without power, a San Diego Gas & Electric Co. spokeswoman said.

Hardest hit was East County around Rancho San Diego, El Cajon and Spring Valley, but other outages occurred around North Park, Hillcrest, eastern Chula Vista and Paradise Hills.

During the worst period, around 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., there were 46 separate outages, utility spokeswoman Alison Zaragoza said. She said many of the outages were caused by falling trees bringing down wires.

Utility crews worked through the night and got most of the power back on by morning, though a few hundred customers were still not back on the grid by late Wednesday morning.

Harris said private properties were also damaged during the storm, and owners would need to dispose of downed trees on their own.

Tuesday's uncharacteristic storm was preceded by unusually hot weather. Luckily, the heat wave will break on Thursday, when temperatures start to moderate, says the National Weather Service. San Diego’s daytime high will about 77, the seasonal average. The region’s inland hills and valleys, which have been in the 90s and low 100s for several days, will top out at about 85 degrees. The entire county will cool a little more on Friday. Temperatures will remain moderate through the weekend.

Solspot.com says much of the coast will get 3’ to 5’ waves on Thursday. The swell will produce strong rip currents. Sea surface temperatures remain in the 70-75 degree range. The average for this time of year is 68.