So it was windy Sunday at Coachella. The air was full of grit, the sand blasted festival goers, and Anthony Kiedis from headliner Red Hot Chili Peppers told the crowd, “I feel like I’m going to go home and throw up a sandbox for my small child.”
But as rough as the last hour or so of the concert was, and as miserable as the walk from the grounds to the paking lot was, the drive home on Interstate 10 was worse. A lot worse.
The wind was gusting to about 45 mph in the Thousand Palms area, and 60 mph in Whitewater, according to the National Weather Service. It caused a sandstorm that created conditions like you’d get in a blizzard whiteout. Drivers, thankfully, were behaving sanely, with hazard lights on and traffic down to 30 mph at points.
The drive was harrowing, but rock star Vanessa Franko got us back to Riversade safely.
Did you survive the drive too? Or were you in the campgrounds? If you have photos or video, send them to breakingnews@pe.com.