Strong westerly winds whipped the Imperial Valley Monday.

According to the National Weather Service, winds gusts reached 66 miles per hour at the Naval Air Facility El Centro and topped 60 miles per hour at the Imperial County Airport. The high winds limited visibility on State Route 86 and the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans closed the highway for several hours in the late afternoon into early evening. Several accidents had occurred prior to the closure including a big rig that blew over near Air Park Road. 

The Imperial Irrigation District had crews addressing power outages that affected 2,500 customers in El Centro and several hundred in Imperial.

Air quality was also affected due to the dust kicked up by the winds.