Cold blast gives Southern California taste of winter

SHERMAN OAKS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A blast of wintry weather is about to hit the Southland, which will push temperatures even lower. High temps will only reach into the 50s, with lows falling to 12 degrees in the mountains.

The Woodland Hills Ice Rink was packed with people, despite chillier than usual temperatures. Many skaters said the weather made it feel like the holiday season.

Meantime, strong, gusty winds took down trees and power lines all over Los Angeles Thursday night.

Sherman Oaks resident Lori Levy slept through the harsh winds Christmas Eve and woke up Christmas morning to a massive 80-year-old tree crushing her Jeep Cherokee.

"It was such a shock, my first reaction was to laugh instead of cry," she said. "We never saw a whole huge tree like that fall over. It was like a tourist attraction - everyone's been coming by, taking pictures."

Since then, the tree has been blocking traffic. The city is supposed to send someone to remove the tree, Levy said, but cleanup crews were busy cleaning up other fallen trees in the area.

Crews were cutting down a tree in downtown Los Angeles that hit a power line and an SUV. Another tree in Northridge was blocking traffic.

High winds continued Friday in areas like Porter Ranch, but are not nearly as strong as the ones on Christmas night.

There's no word from the city on when the trees will be cleaned up.