Tree nearly took out my Studebaker!

[wittsend]

Here in So. Cal. we have been having a rather strong storm (for us). In my small neighborhood about ten, 60ft. trees have been knocked over right at the roots. Anyway, one of these trees fell on my side street ( I live on a corner lot). I got a call at church from my son that the tree had fallen on my Studebaker!

Thankfully a 6" log style fence post kept all but a few branches off the car. We were able to roll it out and saw no signs of damage. Who would have thought that putting that fence post right..., "there" 15 years ago would have saved my Studebaker. A few hours after we got the Studebaker moved the tree dropped another 5 feet or so. Surely it would have been crushed!

I still have a number of trees that are in danger of falling. Hopefully they will hold. I have my "fleet" of cars scatter in treeless sections of the neighborhood.

Tom

[barnlark]

Very close call, indeed! Congrats. Glad you got it out in time. Were there Santa Ana winds with the rain? I can't remember seeing trees that large falling very often out there. Large branches, yes. One crushed my friend's bug eye Sprite to the ground in Altadena when we were in high school. Glad your '64 had some lives left.

[wittsend]

No, your right, rarely do trees fall at the roots here. Much less happen in a large part of the neighborhood. There was a significant, but not necessarily uncommon amount of rain. The winds came and went. Santa Ana winds are with dry weather. Still a bit scary with numerous trees precariously standing in the neighborhood. Thanks for the concern.
Tom

[barnlark]

Tom, not always during the dry weather season. As I remember it, the desert air can start out dry, but it's what the winds can do through the basin and offshore. Those winds can be nastily brutal any time. Just about had my head taken off by more than a few huge palm tree frawns during those winds. Still nice to see good news and a safe outcome concerning a storm's damage. Hate to see old trees in the neighborhood bite it, though. They usually have it easy there.

This from the National Weather Service:

"Santa Ana winds are a type of drainage wind, an offshore wind that results from the buildup of air pressure in the high-altitude Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. When upper level winds are favorable, this high altitude air mass spills out of the Great Basin and is propelled gravitationally towards the southern California coastline, generally as a northeasterly wind.

It is often said that the air is heated and dried as it passes through the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, but according to meteorologists this is a popular misconception. The Santa Ana winds usually form during autumn and early spring when the surface air in the elevated regions of the Great Basin and Mojave Desert (the "high desert") becomes cool or even cold, although they may form at virtually any time of year."

[BRUCESTUDE]

Tom- You were indeed lucky! I've been watching the weather down there, pretty crazy! We have had wet weather here in Eastern Washington, kinda nice rather than our usual dry and windy spring.

[BobPalma]

Whoa, Tom; too close!

Your pre-emptive mission of being at church paid off! <GGG> Congrats. BP