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Home | Weather

30-MPH Wind Gusts before Bay Bridge Damage

By AccuWeather, $content.credit

Last update: October 29, 2009 - 2:25 PM

The San Francisco Bay Area was experiencing wind gusts of just more than 30 mph preceding the time of the structural damage on the Bay Bridge Tuesday, causing damage to vehicles and forcing officials to close the bridge.

San Francisco International Airport recorded wind gusts of 33 mph at approximately 3 p.m. local time. The wind gusts at the airport decreased slightly to 30 mph around 5 p.m.

A metal brace and rod on the Bay Bridge snapped and fell into the westbound lanes at around 5:30 p.m. according to the Associated Press.

Crews work on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, Wednesday Oct. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Much of California and the Bay Area were experiencing gusty winds late Monday into the first part of Tuesday. Gusts over the high ground and through the passes in the Sierra were topping 50 mph.

Oakland had wind gusts reaching a maximum of 35 mph around 2 p.m. Gusts were in the upper 20s around the incident at Oakland.

Monday, wind gusts at the San Francisco Airport exceeded 40 mph between 7 and 9 p.m.

The damaged piece of bridge was part of a recent safety renovation that took place over Labor Day weekend.

The falling rod and brace damaged at least two vehicles on the bridge, but nobody was seriously injured. The San Francisco Chronicle reports there is a possibility that the Bay Bridge will reopen this afternoon.

Story by AccuWeather.com's Gina Cherundolo

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