Bay Area winds topple trees, close freeways, crush cars

High winds blew over a large tree across Interstate 80 in Vallejo Tuesday Dec. 30, 2014. Traffic was blocked in both directions for nearly an hour. High winds blew over a large tree across Interstate 80 in Vallejo Tuesday Dec. 30, 2014. Traffic was blocked in both directions for nearly an hour. Photo: Courtesy / California Highway Patrol Photo: Courtesy / California Highway Patrol Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Bay Area winds topple trees, close freeways, crush cars 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

High winds created havoc across the Bay Area on Tuesday as trees were toppled and crushed cars, blocked freeways and caused a brutal evening commute as gusts topped 60 mph in the East Bay hills.

Lanes in both directions of Interstate 80 in Vallejo were shut down just before 3 p.m. when a tree knocked down power lines and started a small fire, according to the California Highway Patrol. Crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire near the Admiral Callaghan off-ramp, but traffic was at a standstill for nearly an hour.

A number of downed trees blocked northbound Interstate 238 in San Leandro at 4:30 p.m. and motorists were diverted to southbound Interstate 880. As of 8:30 p.m. the road was still closed, but crews hoped to have it clear by about 9:30 p.m.

On BART, numerous lines were shut down throughout the day as tree limbs were blown onto tracks. Parts of the transit system were shuttered in San Francisco, Concord, Hayward and Oakland, where the new connector between the Coliseum Station and Oakland International Airport was shut down.

Service was restored to the majority of the system by early evening, but major residual delays lingered.

Gusts toppled trees all over the Bay Area, including in San Francisco, Oakland, Hayward, Foster City, Pleasant Hill, Woodside, Tiburon and Concord, as a result of winds that gusted up to 50 mph.

Power outages were reported throughout the region, with more than 54,000 customers in San Jose, Hayward, Concord, Bay Point, Brentwood, Pleasanton and Vallejo losing power.

The winds — which reached 62 mph in the Oakland hills and 64 mph on Mount Diablo — came in a storm system from the Pacific Northwest that moved through the region Monday night and is heading south.

“It was a very dry storm; we didn’t have any rain with it, but it’s bringing colder weather and windy conditions,” said Logan Johnson, a National Weather Service forecaster. The Sierra, though, did get some snow.

The winds are expected through Tuesday night and are expected to diminish by Wednesday morning, Johnson said.

Chronicle staff writers

Kale Williams and

Kurtis Alexander contributed to this report.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee