LOS ANGELES _ A potential record-breaking gust of 209 mph recorded atop a California peak is looking more unlikely after further study, National Weather Service forecasters said Monday.
The blast of wind from a cold storm moving south across the state was captured around 7:45 a.m. Sunday by an instrument at 9,186 feet atop Kirkwood Mountain, south of Lake Tahoe. If accurate, the wind would have shattered the record wind speed for the state of 199 mph set in 2017.
But forecasters now suspect the sensor wasn't working properly, said Cory Mueller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
"It doesn't seem realistic after looking at the wind sensor," he said. "It was reporting high winds when we were seeing lighter winds and higher humidity than we were actually experiencing. We believe the sensor wasn't working correctly."
The second-highest wind gust Sunday _ clocking in at 125 mph _ occurred at Alpine Summit at an elevation of 8,483 feet. Mueller said this reading appears to be accurate.
While perhaps not record-breaking, winds across much of the state were significant over the weekend. A window on the 41st floor of San Francisco's leaning Millennium Tower shattered Sunday amid strong winds, according to SFist. Strong overnight winds also toppled a tree, which landed on power lines in Altadena. On Monday, gusts knocked over a big rig on the 15 Freeway in Fontana.
Breezes from the chilly winter storm, which picked up much of its moisture from the Pacific Ocean as it moved toward Southern California over the weekend, are expected to linger until Tuesday morning.
