Powerful winds pushed through the Valley on Thursday, toppling trees and power poles, knocking out service to thousands of utility customers and keeping fire crews busy.

Winds gusted to nearly 50 mph through the Fresno-Clovis area and reached 66 mph near Mendota, said Jim Dudley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.

The jet stream coming out of the northeast whipped through some Valley cities, while passing through others with relatively calm winds, Dudley said.

"It came down off the mountains and pretty much took direct aim at Fresno and Clovis," Dudley said.

The biggest winds were at Mammoth Mountain – the crest of the Sierra at the Mono-Madera county line – where gusts of about 150 mph were recorded, Dudley said.

About noon in northeast Fresno, Hilda Ramirez and three co-workers at a law firm were driving north on First Street near Bullard on their way to lunch when a tree from the center median fell on Ramirez's car.

"I just braked as hard as I could, and it landed on the front part of the hood," Ramirez said.

No one was seriously injured, though Ramirez said her neck was a little sore.

About 10 minutes after the incident – and after everyone safely exited the four-door BMW – a second tree fell on the car's back end, Ramirez said.

She was thankful no one was hurt.

"It could have been worse," she said.

At one point Thursday, more than 31,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in the Fresno area were without power because of downed power poles and lines.

As of 1:30 p.m. Friday, about 2,500 customers in the Fresno area still were without power, said Denny Boyles, a PG&E spokesman.

Here were specific outage numbers in Fresno, Madera and Merced counties: Fresno 910, Clovis 735, Auberry 11, Friant 664, Madera 354, Mariposa 226, Los Banos 137, North Fork 119, Coarsegold 89, Merced 2.

Thursday's unusual weather pattern happens about every 10 years in the region, Dudley said.

The winds warmed as they came down from the Sierra, elevating Fresno's high Thursday to 69, well above the forecast temperature of 55, he said.

West of Mendota at Interstate 5 near Panoche Road, winds gusted to 66 mph. Winds reached 55 mph in Coalinga, 53 mph in Coarsegold, 48 mph in Clovis and Merced and 40 mph in North Fork.

However, in Hanford, winds topped off at only 12 mph.

Today's forecast calls for a return to more normal conditions, Dudley said. Highs will be in the mid-50s with light winds, he said.

Thursday's winds downed many trees in the Fresno-Clovis area.

In downtown Fresno, a large tree fell in Courthouse Park about noon, blocking the entrance/exit of the Fresno County Courthouse's underground garage along Van Ness Avenue.

The tree also knocked over a streetlight that fell across the garage's driveway. Several people reported minor injuries.

High winds and downed trees closed Woodward Park and Roeding Park in Fresno.

At Floradora and Recreation avenues in east-central Fresno, a large tree fell across Floradora on Thursday morning, knocking out a streetlight. A large tree was reported down at Ashcroft and DeWitt avenues, blocking most of Ashcroft.

More trees were down at Wishon and Ashlan avenues, McKinley Avenue just west of Academy Avenue, and Donner Avenue near Clovis Avenue.

Several Clovis Unified schools were without power, but classes continued uninterrupted, district spokeswoman Kelly Avants said. At Pinedale Elementary School, a nearly 50-year-old tree fell in a parking lot, but no one was injured and no buildings were damaged.