70 mph winds slap hills above Montecito

Local residents spent much of Friday morning sweeping up after wind-blown debris from the overnight hours.

Some of the strongest gusts slammed the hills of Montecito, including the campus of Westmont College, downing more than a handful of trees.

Winds blew over a medium sized oak in the formal garden, dating back to the ’40s.

“It’s pretty sad. We don’t like losing big oaks like this,” said Scott Craig, public information officer for Westmont College. “But it does happen on occasion.”

The National Weather Service logged 70 mile an hour gusts in the hills above Montecito early Friday morning.

Gusts were clocked at 60 miles an hour in Mission Canyon.

Calmer but steady 35 mile an hour winds blew through the Santa Barbara Airport until 5:30 Friday morning.

Equally strong winds and gusts are forecast again Friday night into early Saturday morning.