Gusting Winds Stir Up Problems in the Valley

Tuesday gusty winds rocked the trees and kicked dust into the air taking a toll on people in the valley.

"As far as like teachers, a lot of us are having an extended period of allergies," said Fresno County resident Lianne White.

Experts at the Allergy Institue say Tuesday’s forecast was brutal for allergy sufferers.

"With the wind we have a lot of dust in the air along with the pollens, so allergy wise it’s a bad day. On top of it people are getting irritated from this changing of the weather with the wind and dust in the air," said Dr. A.M. Aminian.

Even in their cars many drivers could not escape the wind’s impact. Two were injured and seven cars wrecked after dust covered highway 180 between Kerman and Mendota. Drivers say these conditions may be the toughest to navigate.

"A lot of blowing dust you can feel the car move. Dust is worse than fog the way i see it because you can’t see nothing. so i could see it causing wrecks," said Fresno resident Michael Clark.

Firefighters in Fresno dealt with wind gusts topping out near 40 miles per hour. A small grass fire near highway 41 put up a serious fight as the wind fueled the burn.

"It quickly spread not only in the original fire, but it quickly jumped the off ramp, so we had two or three spot fires that we had to contend with," said Pete Martinez of the Fresno Fire Department.

Eventually the fire was put out and the damaged cars towed, but in this dust and wind there was no way to extinguish the allergies.

"The pollen count is high. the wind is strong, so we need to stay indoors if we can and limit our daily activities," said Dr. A.M. Aminian.

With a potentially windy and hot summer ahead, allergy experts say now is the time to get tested if you haven’t before.

As for first responders, they’re concerned wind will be a major factor in a busy fire season.