Document text
Power outages and fallen trees highlight windstorm Freak winds punching southward down the canyon of Lithia Park knocked down trees and created electrical problems throughout the city. The intense gusts fueled controlled burns throughout the county, forcing fireworkers to respond to bring them under control. Swaying trees threatened electrical crews manning cherrypickers who were attempting to restore power to affected areas. AIR CONDITIONING - High winds snapped 35 feet off the top of a 75-foot Ponderosa pine (right) resulting in a major chunk of Fred Kannasto's roof being removed in the 200 block of Granite Street. Photo by Chris Miller And with more wind on the way, city officials are standing by for a possible repeat. After coping with an evening of power outages, and trees crashing through electrical lines, Electrical and Telecommunications Director Dick Wanderscheid said he was placing his crews on alert. "Hopefully today won't be as bad as last night. In reading coverage in other cities, we kind of skated through," Wanderscheid said. "Fortunately, we've been tree-trimming for the last month and half - we're well into that now - but I think we had trimmed a lot of trees that could have fallen. We'll be on alert today - the winds shouldn't be as bad as they were yesterday, but you never know." Weather forecasters predict winds to reach upwards of 35 mph today and 45 mph tonight. A wind advisory is in effect. In addition to causing damage to homes and cars, Thursday's storm knocked out power to approximately 75 area residents. Power was out from 4:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Other power outages swept through the valley affecting hundreds of residents in Medford and Talent. Thursday night city wind monitors recorded blasts as high as 52 mph, according to Steve Gies, the city parks superintendent. Gies said Lithia Park lost four towering trees in the 50 to 70 foot range. Ordinarily, high winds don't affect the park much, Gies said, but last night's gusts were channeled by the contours of the park, turning the open space into a wind tunnel. "This (wind) came right down the park and gave us some real trouble," Gies said. Fallen trees forced parks personnel to temporarily close access to the upper portion of the park until roads were cleared. Gies estimated the damage at "running a few thousand dollars" to pay for work crews and equipment time. Darin Welburn, division chief of Ashland Fire District 5, said Thursday's wind spread embers from controlled burns, causing one fire that scorched half an acre before it was brought to heel. The fire, located on the 400 block of Timberlake Drive, occurred at 2:34 p.m. Welburn said that while residents were allowed to burn Thursday, as soon as the wind picked up District 5 officials warned residents to hold off until winds died. "Yesterday was a burn day. However, it was just way too windy and people couldn't keep control of the embers," he said. While Lithia Park avoided substantial damage, other areas of the city were not as lucky. Cars and homes also fell victim to tumbling trees. A house located on the 200 block of Granite Street fell prey to a 75-foot Ponderosa pine, causing damage to the attic and porch. Resident Fred Kannasto, who has resided on Granite Street since the 1940s, was at home when the tree fell. "It just surprised me," Kannasto said. "I thought it was a huge clap of thunder." Hearing commotion outside, Kannasto went outside to discover a giant tree had ventilated the roof of his house. "I'll have to do something about covering the hole in the roof to keep the rain from coming in," he said. "I don't mind it so much (living alone), until a tree falls on my house." Shortly after, another tree fell near the corner of Ashland and Morton streets - this time engulfing an unsuspecting truck. According to John Peterson, street superintendent for the City of Ashland, the giant spruce had limited support, which ultimately led to its toppling. "These Blue Spruces are really shallow trees and it doesn't take much to knock them over," Peterson said. Doyle Hirsch, an Ashland weather watcher, said trees in urban areas are at a greater risk for falling in storms due to continuous watering. Hirsch said people watering their lawns also water the neighboring trees, causing them to develop shallow root systems. "The roots develop but they develop very shallow," Hirsch said. As City of Ashland crews deployed to weather fiascoes, Mt. Ashland ski officials opted to forgo Thursday's night skiing session. "The winds were blowing the chairs around to the point where we had to close them down," Mt. Ashland Manager Bruce Meek said. Meek said three lifts are operating today - Ariel is on a wind hold. "Right now we're seeing moderate winds of 20 to 40 miles per hour at the lodge and high winds of 40 and above on top," he said. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -