Hurricane force winds hit Northern Utah

[Isolder74]

Link

High winds knock out power, topple semis in Davis County
By Pat Reavy
December 1st, 2011 @ 9:05am


CENTERVILLE — Dangerously high winds toppled semi-trucks, trees, power lines and forced the closure of I-15 Thursday morning along with more than a dozen schools.

Approximately 10 semi-trucks were blown onto their sides on I-15 in Davis County. The strongest winds reported near Centerville were gusts of 100 mph and 86 mph were recorded by the National Weather Service. A 100 mph wind gust is the same as a Category 2 hurricane.

There were so many reports of downed trees, power lines and freeway road signs in Davis County that police asked residents to be patient and not to flood the 911 emergency system.

"The Bountiful Police Department is asking all citizens of North Salt Lake, Bountiful, and Woods Cross not to call 911 or the regular business number for Bountiful Police unless it is an emergency. We are experiencing a high call volume with people reporting tree’s that have fallen and other property damage-related calls (non-emergencies). We do want phone calls for any injuries, power lines that have fallen, fires and other emergency related items," Bountiful police said in a statement.

All northbound lanes on I-15 were shutdown Thursday morning at Parrish Lane in Centerville but have just reopened. High profile vehicles in the southbound lanes were being diverted to a nearby rest stop.

Traffic restrictions were expected to remain through noon.
Davis and Weber County School Closures
All Centerville schools

In Ogden

Elementaries
Bonneville
Hillcrest
Horace Mann
Polk
Shadow Valley
T.O. Smith
Wasatch

Highland Jr. High

High schools
Ben Lomond
Ogden

Layton Christian Academy

School closures

Centerville city officials said Thursday morning that all four of the city's elementary schools and one junior high school were closed Thursday, even though Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams said as late as 8 a.m. that all schools in the district were still open.

City officials used their reverse 911 calling system to notify all residents who still had power that there was no school. Centerville Junior High School reportedly did not have power Thursday morning.

Ogden District's Public Information Officer Donna Corby told KSL Newsradio several schools in the Ogden area do not have power and are currently closed.

Power outages

Salt Lake County - 16,000+
Ogden - 6,700
Centerville - 4,600+
Farmington, Fruit Heights and Layton - 8,500

Weber State University is open but the doors are locked to keep them from blowing in. School staff are on hand to unlock the doors to allow students to enter.

Power outages

About 37,000 customers were reportedly without power Thursday morning in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power reported more than 16,000 customers without power in Salt Lake County because of the storm, 6,700 in Ogden, more than 4,600 in Centerville and 8,500 in Farmington, Fruit Heights and Layton. Other areas were also reporting smaller outages. There was no word of when power would be restored.

Several people reported minor injuries when rocks or other flying debris hit their vehicles. One motorist told KSL a traffic light blew over onto their truck, puncturing the roof. That motorist was not injured. Large debris such as sheet metal and an air conditioning unit were reported on the roadways in some areas.

FrontRunner

FrontRunner trains in Davis County were brought to a halt between Farmington and Woods Cross because of debris. A bus bridge was put in place to transfer passengers. The Utah Transit Authority reported its Farmington station sustained heavy damage due to high winds.

Centerville City tweeted that garbage pickup will be delayed a day.

UTA also reported in Salt Lake County that Highland Drive would be closed between 6100 South and 6400 South until about noon because of an early morning accident.

KSL Newsradio listeners texted, "(The wind) is blowing the yellow strips off the road on Legacy Highway. No lie." Another texted, "Don't drive on 400 West in Centerville (because) there are a lot of trampolines and garbage on the road."

KSL Meteorologist Grant Weyman said the wind is expected to taper off around noon.

Stay with ksl.com, KSL Newsradio 102.7FM/1160AM and KSL TV for updates and get traffic information every 10 minutes on the nines on KSL Newsradio.

Written by Pat Reavy with contributions from the KSL News Team.

I'm trapped at Weber State. Trees are down everywhere. Campus buildings are all on lockdown. The IT systems are going haywire. Bus services are being shut down but they won't close campus. If this goes on much longer I'll have no way to get home.

[Guardsman Bass]

I'm sorry to hear that you got stuck in all this.

I actually didn't hear about this until this morning. We didn't really get any of it up on the southeastern bench (Sandy/Draper), at least not in my neighborhood.

[Broomstick]

Even out here, where we get hurricane force winds (yes, gusts up to 100+mph/160+kph do occur here) a couple times a year, and we build for it and have some coping mechanisms that's nothing to laugh at. I'm sorry to here Utah was subjected to that, it's surprisingly scary if you've never been in it before.

Stay safe, guys. If you must go out be careful.

[Col. Crackpot]

That's never fun. We took a hurricane hit in New England for the first time in 20 years this summer. Most had no power for a day or so. Many waited weeks for power to be restored. Good luck to you Isolder.

[Isolder74]

I can't tell how fast the winds got the Science Lab lost it's weather station. It's dying down a bit now. I'll have to see how it looks when I try to head home.

[Knife]

Yeah, I was up at Ogden Regional doing clinicals, nasty nasty nasty. They sent the helocopter off... somewhere so it wouldn't be damaged. The hospital was on emergency power most the morning. Fustratingly enough, power kept trying to come on, then off, then the emergency generators kick in, then power would come up. In between each, the computers would crash and you'd lose all your shit, vents would get their alarms tripped, telemetry would go screwy, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria.

To boot, fucing WSU would auto text me and call me to tell me not to come.

Couple semi trucks turned over on 89 going onto 84, so if you go that way, be careful. Other than that, seems the worst is over. Got home about half an hour ago, fence is still there as are the dogs. Yay.

[Broomstick]

Even if you have a low-profile vehicle - like an ordinary car - driving in such winds can be hazardous. Be on top of your directional control at all times. It is possible even for vehicles with a low center of gravity to lose control or drift in winds that high. Look ahead for possible flying debris. Use caution when opening any doors of any sort, but particularly large ones like garage doors.

[Knife]

Even if you have a low-profile vehicle - like an ordinary car - driving in such winds can be hazardous. Be on top of your directional control at all times. It is possible even for vehicles with a low center of gravity to lose control or drift in winds that high. Look ahead for possible flying debris. Use caution when opening any doors of any sort, but particularly large ones like garage doors.

Indeed, had to dodge a construction sign on the way home.

[Isolder74]

Just look at the Photo gallery on the article I posted.

Wow!









Mental Note in high Winds don't try to open a garage door!

[CaptainChewbacca]

That garage dor is bowed OUT, probably what happened was the wind blowing across the surface of the door lowered pressure enough for the air inside to cause the door to bubble, then the protruding edge (on the right side) was caught by the wind and forced open.

Opening the garage door probably would've saved it, it is a hinged model that doesn't project beyond the door frame.