Crosswind Landing

This morning, the Santa Ana winds were predicted to be gusting to 60 kts out of the north in Ontario. When we arrived, the surface winds were only about 5 kts, but the ride at altitude had been very rough all the way from Texas. Descending through 600' AGL (above ground level), the winds were still 45 kts out of the north, and we were landing west (out of limits for touchdown, if it had continued to the deck). This required about a 30 degree right crab to keep the airplane on the extended centerline of the runway. Imagine driving your car and having to look out the extreme left side of the windshield to keep the car centered in your lane. Between 600' and touchdown on runway 26 left, the wind died down to the 5 kts reported, so the heading had to be continuously "clocked" toward runway heading of 256 degrees magnetic, in order to touchdown with the longitudinal axis of the airplane in alignment with the runway centerline. If the airplane touches down in a crab, the stress on the upwind mainmount can be enormous, so I try to avoid that when possible. An interesting problem at 4:30 in the morning when you've been up all night. It worked out ok, but the FO and I agreed we had never seen a sheer that pronounced and that smooth so close to the ground.