Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Storm Strikes Friday; Damage Reported Across County

Friday night's storm left a lot of trees down, but, all in all, there was little structural damage and no injuries.

Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown estimated 200 trees were blown down by the high winds Friday night.

These trees blocked county roads, forcing the road and bridge crew, along with the Nevada County Rescue Unit to work until around 1:30 a.m. Saturday to get the roads cleared.

Brown said there was some damage to homes and vehicles caused by falling trees and limbs, but nothing major.

In fact, he said, a vehicle was damaged at the county shop when limbs hit it.

"It happened quick," Brown said. "But it was mostly wind. Most of the damage was in the northern third of the county, though there were some trees down in the southern part."

Jim Cross, Nevada County Office of Emergency Services director, said most of the damage occurred in the Prescott area.

"It was bad for the ones with tree damage," he said, "otherwise some roads were blocked. It was straight line winds in strips. There was little property damage."

Davis Benton, Cale's weatherman, called the storm "brisk" but said there was no tornado involved.

He estimated the winds blowing more than 50 miles per hour, but his wind gauge only registers 50 mph.

The southern part of the county got more rain, Benton said, with Cale receiving about an inch.

However, he added, no hail was reported with the storm either.

John W. Teeter, Prescott's meteorologist, said his hand-held wind gauge registered winds of 70 mph, just below hurricane level.

But, the wind gauge at the weather center in Prescott, he said, showed the winds to be 55 or 60 mph.

"It was straight line winds," he said. "There was no tornado activity. Trees were toppled and roads were blocked all over the county, but this kind of weather is typical for this time of year.