As a Native Californian, I grew up with the Santa Anas. We never called them, "Santa Ana winds", but just "Santa Anas". Everyone knew what we meant. Usually our winds blow west to east, but the Santa Anas reverse direction and come barreling down from the high desert to the ocean. They make us all uneasy. They usually are hot winds and they sweep down canyons at tremendous speed. I just heard that 5 people have been arrested related to the fires. I have witnessed the result of fires burning due to Santa Anas my entire life and it is horrible. My own San Gabriel mountains nearly burned down when I was a teenager, the result of Santa Anas. And cities like Malibu, Corona, Chino Hills, Monrovia, and Anaheim Hills have been burned before from Santa Ana fires. My aunt and uncle, in their 80's, were a block away from the San Diego fires last year. Like earthquakes, they are one of the hazards of living in our southern California desert. Please say a prayer for all the families that have lost their homes in these latest fires.
4 comments:
In the northwest, warm winds from the east are called Chinooks. Warm means something different with the Chinooks than the Santa Anas (I think they became Santa Ana because people kept mispronouncng it--I remember being very annoyed at broadcasters who mispronounced it.) Anyway, Chinooks are warm as in warmer than the ambient temperature and so above freezing. They happen in the winter, and melt snow causing flooding.
We may wonder how people can live with hurricanes or tornadoes, but we have our own trouble-making winds.
I was watching the fires on the BBC news last night.....they are horrifying.....I will think of those who have lost so much and count my blessings.......
It's always an eerie time here in San Diego. Today it's blustery and hot and very dry. The prelude to the cool, soaking mists of winter. Can't wait.
Best to you and this blog!
When I visited LA the first time we had an nice view over the town from Duarte because we had some western winds.
But now I know what it means "Santa Anas" and the fire.
I was a fire fighter in the biggest fire we had in Germany/Hannover erea in 1971 and I was driving through a fire on the highway in California in 2004.
Hope you can stop the frires right now.
Hallo from Germay
Hartmut
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