Thousands of people in Southern California lose power due to Santa Ana winds.

Santa Ana winds exceeding 80 mph knocked out power to hundreds and toppled trees in Southern California Thursday.

PowerOutage.us reported around 35,000 Southern California power outages at 11:30 a.m. PT. Around 4 p.m., the number plummeted to 20,000.

Unable to withstand the winds, two Pasadena trees blocked roadways until the public works staff could remove them. No one was hurt.

Over 80 mph gusts hit the San Gabriel Mountains and San Bernardino foothills. Marshall Peak measured 87 mph, Fremont Canyon east of Santa Ana 80 mph, Burbank 67 mph, and Santa Ana's John Wayne Airport 51 mph.

The Los Angeles and Orange County Zoos closed Thursday due to hazardous winds. Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area avoided the hardest winds, while Santa Cruz County had 30-40 mph gusts that toppled a tree into power wires.

High pressure is building off the coast following a stormy March. In the meantime, a portion of energy left the jet stream and landed over the Desert Southwest. This is a cutoff low. The low transported colder, denser air into the interior, raising surface pressures, which drove the powerful wind between coastal Southern California and the interior. 

Strong dry winds generally cause fires, but recent storms have dropped enough rain to prevent them.

Friday, the cutoff low slides south, reducing winds. Lighter offshore winds will boost daytime highs 5-10 degrees above typical for this time of year into the weekend.

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