The Santa Ana winds in Southern California sweep down wide across the deserts and across the Los Angeles Basin pushing dust and smoke from wildfires far out into the Pacific Ocean.

The Santa Ana winds are warm, dry winds that characteristically appear in Southern California and Northern Baja California weather during autumn and early winter. Description: Southern California’s “Santa Anas” are dry, north-easterly winds having speeds in excess of 25 knots (46 kilometers/hour). ... Description: Southern California’s “Santa Anas” are dry, north-easterly winds having speeds in excess of 25 knots (46 kilometers/hour). ... For other uses, see Wind (disambiguation). ... This article is about the region of Southern California. ... Baja California (literally lower California in Spanish) is the northernmost state of Mexico. ... For the geological process, see Weathering or Erosion. ...

Meteorology

Santa Anas are a type of föhn wind, the result of air pressure buildup in the high-altitude Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. This high energy wind spills out of the Great Basin and is pulled by gravity into the surrounding lowlands. The air circulates clockwise around the high pressure area bringing winds from the east and northeast to Southern California (the reverse of the westerly winds characteristic of the latitude). A föhn wind or foehn wind occurs when a deep layer of prevailing wind is forced over a mountain range (Orographic lifting). ... Diurnal (daily) rhythm of air pressure in northern Germany (black curve is air pressure) Atmospheric pressure is the pressure at any point in the Earths atmosphere. ... High altitude are regions on the Earths surface (or in its atmosphere) that are high above mean sea level. ... Drainage map showing the Great Basin in orange Various Definitions of the Great Basin (NPS) The Great Basin is a large, arid region of the western United States. ... This article is about the mountain range in the Western United States. ... For individual mountains named Rocky Mountain, see Rocky Mountain (disambiguation). ...

It is often said that the air is heated and dried as it passes through the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, but according to meteorologists this is a popular misconception. The Santa Ana winds usually form during autumn and early spring when the desert is relatively cold, although they may form at virtually any time of year. The air heats up due to adiabatic heating while being compressed during its descent. While the air has already been dried by orographic lift prior to reaching the Great Basin, the relative humidity of the air declines rapidly as it descends and warms in its final stages as it passes over the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges. For the indigenous American tribe, see Mohave. ... Map of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. ... This article is about arid terrain. ... The lapse rate is defined as the negative of the rate of change in an atmospheric variable, usually temperature, with height observed while moving upwards through an atmosphere. ... This wave cloud pattern formed off of the ÃŽle Amsterdam in the far southern Indian Ocean, due to orographic lift of an airmass by the island, producing alternating bands of condensed and invisible humidity downwind of the island as the moist air moves in vertical waves and the moisture successively... The Transverse ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. ... The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges which stretch 900 miles from southern California to the southern tip of Baja California, part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. ...

The air is then forced down the mountain slopes out towards the Pacific coast; the air mass is further heated by compression as it drops in altitude before reaching the Los Angeles Basin western San Diego County and Tijuana (Baja California) at typical speeds of 35 knots. The southern California coastal region gets some of its hottest weather of the year during autumn while Santa Ana winds are blowing. During Santa Ana conditions it is typically hotter along the coast than in the deserts and the humidity plummets to less than 15%. For other uses, see Force (disambiguation). ... Pacific redirects here. ... Physical compression is the result of the subjection of a material to compressive stress, resulting in reduction of volume. ... The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the peninsular and transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles. ... San Diego County is a county located on the Pacific Ocean in the far southwest of California, along the border with Mexico. ... Tijuana (Spanish [tixwana], English usually [ˌtiːəˈwɑnə]), is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and the seat of the municipality of Tijuana. ... Baja California (literally lower California in Spanish) is the northernmost state of Mexico. ... Humidity is the amount of water vapor in air. ...

QuikSCAT image showing the speed of the Santa Ana winds (m/s).

As the Santa Ana winds are channeled through the mountain passes they can approach hurricane force. The combination of wind, heat, and dryness turns the chaparral into explosive fuel for the infamous wildfires for which the region is known. Wildfires fanned by Santa Ana winds burned 721,791 acres (2,921 km²) in two weeks during October 2003.^[1] These same winds have contributed to the fires that have burned some 426,000 acres as of late October 2007.^[2] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The QuikSCAT (Quick Scatterometer) is an earth-observing satellite that provides wind speed and direction information over oceans to NOAA.It is a quick recovery mission to fill the gap created by the loss of data from the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) that was lost in June 1997. ... Chaparral is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, USA, that is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild, wet winters and hot dry summers) and wildfire. ... For other uses, see Wildfire (disambiguation). ...

Although the winds often have a destructive nature, they have some positive benefits as well. They cause cold water to rise from the bottom of the ocean to the top, bringing with it many nutrients that ultimately benefit local fisheries. As the winds blow over the ocean, sea surface temperatures drop about 4°C (7°F), indicating an upwelling of deep ocean water. Chlorophyll concentrations in the surface water go from negligible, in the absence of winds, to very active at more than 1.5 milligrams per cubic meter in the presence of the winds. Chlorophyll gives leaves their green color Space-filling model of the chlorophyll molecule Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. ...

Santa Ana fog

A Santa Ana fog is derivative phenomenon in which a ground fog settles in Southern California during the end of a Santa Ana wind episode. When Santa Ana conditions prevail, with winds in the lower two to three kilometers (1.25-1.8 m) of the atmosphere from the north through east, the lower atmosphere continues to be dry. But as soon as the Santa Ana winds cease, the cool and moist marine layer forms rapidly. The air in the marine layer becomes very moist and fog occurs.^[3][4] For other uses, see Fog (disambiguation). ... This article is about the region of Southern California. ... A marine layer is a cool, moist, foggy layer of air that can be several hundred feet to as much as two thousand feet thick associated with offshore weather patterns. ...

A related phenomenon occurs when the Santa Ana condition is present but weak, allowing hot dry air to accumulate in the inland valleys that may not push all the way to sea level. Under these conditions auto commuters can drive from the San Fernando Valley where conditions are sunny and warm, over the low Santa Monica Mountains, to plunge into the cool cloudy air, low clouds, and fog characteristic of the marine air mass. This and the "Santa Ana fog" above constitute examples of an air inversion (meteorology). Smoke rising in Lochcarron is stopped by an overlying layer of warmer air. ...

Unusual Santa Ana conditions

While characteristically hot and dry, the Santa Anas can also blow cold and dry, and in fact can bring some of Southern California's coldest weather. High cloudiness, most commonly cirrus and altostratus, but also lenticular clouds may be observed, and on rare occasions these usually dry southwest-flowing winds can bring rain. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Altostratus is a cloud belonging to a class characterized by a generally uniform gray sheet or layer, lighter in color than nimbostratus and darker than cirrostratus. ... Lenticular clouds, technically known as altocumulus standing lenticularis, are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned at right-angles to the wind direction. ...

Local impact

To the north, in the Santa Barbara area, the Santa Ana winds are weaker and are usually held at bay by topography: the local mountains offer no prominent outlets, in the form of passes or river valleys, from the elevated inland source areas. However, a variant of the Santa Ana wind, known locally as Sundowner winds, often invade the area. These are downslope winds which occur when a high pressure area lies due north of Santa Barbara, and occur most frequently in the late spring to early summer, and are strongest at sunset, or "sundown," hence their name. The hottest temperature ever recorded in North America outside Death Valley, 133°F (56°C), was unofficially recorded on June 17, 1859 during a Sundowner wind. However, weather instruments during that period were unreliable and the actual temperature was closer to 109°F (43°C),^{[citation needed]} the highest official reading. Most meteorologists do not recognize this historical record.^{[citation needed]} Nickname: Location in Santa Barbara County and the state of California Coordinates: , County Government  - Mayor Marty Blum Area  - City 111. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... For other uses, see Death Valley (disambiguation). ... is the 168th day of the year (169th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1859 (MDCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

In the Brookings and Gold Beach areas along the southern Oregon coast they are called the Brookings Effect (or Chetco Effect); and in the northern Plains such winds off the Rocky Mountains are called Chinook winds. The Great Plains covers much of the central United States, portions of Canada and Mexico. ... For individual mountains named Rocky Mountain, see Rocky Mountain (disambiguation). ... Image:Shitnook wind. ...

In the Los Angeles Basin, the winds are often credited with the extremely high visibility experienced in the area during the winter, in contrast to the hazy, smoggy summers. The winds are also associated with some of the area's largest and deadliest wildfires, including the state's largest fire on record, the Cedar Fire, as well as the Laguna Fire, Old Fire, Esperanza Fire and the Great Fire of 1889. The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the peninsular and transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles. ... In Meteorology, ability is a measure of the nothingness at which an object or light can be seen. ... For other uses, see Wildfire (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Laguna Fire, previously known as the Kitchen Creek Fire and the Boulder Oaks Fire, was, at its time, the second largest fire in the history of California. ... The Old Fire was a wildfire that started on October 25, 2003 in the San Bernardino Mountains of the U.S. state of California. ... A NASA satellite image of the Esperanza Fire The Esperanza Fire was a wind driven arson fire that started in a river wash near Cabazon, California. ... The Great Fire of 1889 was a wildfire in California which burned parts of San Diego County and Orange County during the last week of September, 1889. ...

The adverse pulmonary health impacts have been understood by local doctors for decades; the winds pick up and transmit grit, dust, pollens, mold spores and other irritants and allergens for considerable distances. Residents regularly notice a build-up of dust in their homes and grit on their properties during these periods, which are frequent during the winter.

In October 2007 the winds fueled major wild fires and house burnings in Escondido, Malibu, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Rancho Bernardo, Poway and Los Angeles. For the album by J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton, see The Road to Escondido Escondido is a city located in northern San Diego County, California just north of the city of San Diego. ... Location of Malibu in Los Angeles County, California Coordinates: , Country State County Los Angeles Incorporated (city) 1991-03-28 [2] Government  - Mayor Ken Kearsley [1] Area  - City  100. ... San Marcos is a city located in the northern portion of San Diego County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 54,977. ... Location of Carlsbad within San Diego County, California. ... Rancho Bernardo is a neighborhood of the city of San Diego, California, located in the county of the latters same name. ... Motto: The City in the Country Coordinates: , Country State County San Diego Incorporated December 1, 1980 Government  - Type Council-Manager  - Mayor Mickey Cafagna  - City Manager Rod Gould Area  - City  39. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ...

Etymology

Wind patterns in the western United States result in the Santa Anas.

Santa Ana winds may get their name from the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County, the Santa Ana River or Santa Ana Canyon, along which the winds are particularly strong. There are also claims that the original form is Santana winds, from the Spanish vientos de Satán ("winds of Satan", Sanatanas being a rarer form of Satanás), and that this, in turn, is a translation of a native name in some unspecified language.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are short peninsular mountain range along the coast of southern California in the United States. ... The Santa Ana River begins in San Bernardino County, California in the San Bernardino National Forest. ... Santa Ana Canyon is where the Santa Ana River passes between the Santa Ana Mountains and the Chino Hills at the border between Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. ... This article is about the concept of Satan. ...

According to the Los Angeles almanac: "The original spelling of the name of the winds is unclear, not to mention the origin. The name Santana Winds is said to be traced to Spanish California, when the winds were called Devil Winds due to their heat. The reference book Los Angeles A to Z (by Leonard & Dale Pitt), credits the Santa Ana Canyon in Orange County as the origin of the name Santa Ana Winds, thereby arguing for the term Santa Anas. This might be supported by early accounts which attributed the Santa Ana riverbed running through the canyon as the source of the winds. Another account placed the origin of Santa Ana Winds with an Associated Press correspondent stationed in Santa Ana who mistakenly began using Santa Ana Winds instead of Santana Winds in a 1901 dispatch."

Santa Ana winds in popular culture

Television

• The above Chandler passage is read by Chris Stevens (John Corbett) at the beginning of the episode "Ill Wind" of the TV series Northern Exposure.
• This passage is also quoted by Ed Asner in his role as Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show as an example of how to write prose.
• Kitty's fear of the winds were featured in the "Date Night" episode of the ABC series Brothers & Sisters.
• Several references made in the hit TV show Beverly Hills, 90210.

Chris Stevens is a fictional character in the television series Northern Exposure. ... John Corbett as Aidan Shaw on Sex and the City John Corbett (May 9, 1961 in Wheeling, West Virginia) is an American actor who has co-starred in two successful television series to date: Northern Exposure from 1990 to 1995 and Sex and the City (spanning 20 episodes from 2001... This article is about the TV series; there is also a mix album of the same name. ... Edward Asner (born November 15, 1929) is an American actor known for his Emmy-winning role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and later continued in a spinoff series, Lou Grant. ... Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two shows on CBS. The first was Mary Tyler Moore in which the character was the producer of the fictional WJM-TV news. ... Mary Tyler Moore is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977. ... Brothers & Sisters is an hour-long American TV drama series about a large mature family and the events that befall them. ... Beverly Hills, 90210 is a primetime television soap opera that aired from October 4, 1990, to May 17, 2000, on FOX in the United States and subsequently on various networks around the world. ...

Songs

• The 1970 Tim Buckley song "Venice Beach" includes the lyrics "White heat of swaying day/Dark slap of conga cries/'Come out and breathe as one'/Salt sea and fiddles drone/Out on the dancing stone/While the Santanas blow/Sing the music boats in the bay."
• The Beach Boys song "Santa Ana Winds" appears on their 1980 album Keepin' the Summer Alive.
• Bad Religion mentions the winds a few times, using their nickname "murder winds" and the line "The fans of Santa Ana are withering" in the song "Los Angeles Is Burning" from the album The Empire Strikes First. "When the hills of Los Angeles are burning/ Palm trees are candles in the murder winds/ So many lives are on the breeze/ Even the stars are ill at ease/ And Los Angeles is burning."
• There is a reference made to the winds in the Steely Dan song, "Babylon Sisters" ".... here come those Santa Ana Winds again."
• The song "LA Woman" by the Doors references taking a look around "See which way the wind blows" and contains imagery in which the city's "hair is burnin' hills are filled with fire."
• The song "Summer Rain" by Belinda Carlisle has the lyrics "I remember the rain on our skin. And his kisses hotter than the Santa Ana Winds."
• The song "Catch My Disease" by Ben Lee has the lyrics "She told me about the winds from Santa Ana/ And that's the way I like it."
• The Santa Ana Winds are referred to in the song "I Love L.A" by Randy Newman: "And the Santa Ana Winds blowing hot from the north..."
• Rancid makes reference to the winds in the song "Brad Logan" on the South Park Chef Aid album. "California sun has sunk/ behind the Anaheim hills; here comes the night/ I was high on junk/ and the warm winds of Santa Ana feel alright."
• The song "Mansfield" by Elton John mentions a "California moon" and contains the lyrics "The Santa Ana winds blew warm into your room".
• Survivor has an atmospheric song named "Santa Ana Winds" that refers to a disastrous woman.
• Danish band Mew's song "The Zookeeper's Boy" refers to the winds in the lyric "Santa Ana winds bring seasickness."
• Jason Mraz's "Silent Love Song" refers to the Santa Ana winds.
• The a capella group The Bobs' song "Santa Ana Woman" has the line "The Santa Ana winds had come back / And the whole city of LA was acting like it had PMS."
• The band Animal Logic recorded a song "Winds Of Santa Ana" appearing in the band's self-titled 1989 album.
• Debbie Boone, "California" 1977, "...California, where the sun is warm, where the winds called Santa Ana make you feel like you belong..."
• Steve Goodman's Santa Ana Winds, the last album released before his death in 1984, contains the song of the same name. "Chicago Shorty" wrote this analogy of unrequited love from the view of a man from a city where wind is understood.

Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an experimental vocalist and performer who incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock in a short career spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... ... The Beach Boys, originally the Beech Boys, a small team of four brothers from the south of Poland, emigrated to America in the early 1950s in search of a fortune to be made in the Arizonian logging industry. When it soon became evident they had been the victims of... The album Keepin The Summer Alive was released in 1980 and was the twenty-sixth album released by the Beach Boys. ... Bad Religion is a seminal American punk rock band, formed in Southern California in 1980 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars) and Jay Ziskrout (drums). ... The Empire Strikes First is an album by Bad Religion released on June 8, 2004. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This page is about the rock band. ... Belinda Carlisle, born Belinda Jo Carlisle (also known as Belinda Kurczeski); on August 17, 1958 in Hollywood, California, is the lead vocalist and a founding member of the all-female rock & roll band The Go-Gos and also a successful solo artist. ... Benjamin Michael Lee (born September 11, 1978 in Sydney, Australia) is a ARIA Award winning Jewish Australian musician and actor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Rancid is a punk band, formed in 1991 in Albany, California, by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong. ... Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE[2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a five-time Grammy and one-time Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... The word mew can refer to: Mew (Pokémon), a video game character Miaow or meow, the noise that cats make. ... Jason Thomas Mraz (born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia, a suburb of Richmond. ... The Bobs are a new wave a cappella group founded in San Francisco, California. ... Animal Logic is the name of a band (and its eponymous first release) formed in 1989 by Stewart Copeland, Stanley Clarke, and Deborah Holland. ...

Movies

• In the 1971 movie The Return of Count Yorga, set in California, the characters discuss the recent wind in the area and ask the Count if he has heard of winds of Santa Ana to which he replies; "But of course. The Winds of Santa Ana are world famous."
• In the 1978 film Big Wednesday, the Santa Ana winds are mentioned in the opening sequence.
• In the 1983 film Breathless, the Santa Ana Winds are described by Jesse Lujack (Richard Gere) to Monica Poiccard (Valérie Kaprisky).
• In the 1994 film Mixed Nuts, the Santa Ana winds are mentioned briefly.
• In the 1995 film My Family, the Santa Ana Winds are mentioned in the sequence when Chucho (Esai Morales), a gang member, is shot dead by the LAPD.
• In the 2006 film The Holiday, the Santa Ana winds are constantly shown, and Jack Black's character 'Miles' mentions that when they blow, "all bets are off" and "anything can happen".

The Return of Count Yorga is a 1971 vampire/horror movie starring Robert Quarry. ... Big Wednesday was a 1978 coming-of-age movie, directed by John Milius, starring Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt and Gary Busey as California surfers facing life, the Vietnam War, and use of the ever changing surf as a metaphor for the changes in life. ... Breathless can refer to: Breathless (1960 film) (French title: À bout de souffle), directed by Jean-Luc Godard Breathless (1983 film), a remake of the 1960 film, starring Richard Gere Breathless (CSI episode), an episode of the TV drama Breathless Mahoney, a role played by Madonna in the film Dick Tracy... Richard Tiffany Gere[1] (born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. ... Valérie Kaprisky (born August 19, 1962) is a French actress. ... Mixed nuts Mixed nuts are a snack food consisting of any mixture of nuts in the culinary sense, particularly peanuts, almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, filberts, and pecans. ... My Family is a 1995 film directed by Gregory Nava and written by Gregory Nava and his wife, Anna Thomas. ... Esai Morales Esai Morales (born October 1, 1962) is an actor who most recently starred as Lt. ... LAPD and L.A.P.D. redirect here. ... For other uses, see Holiday (disambiguation). ...

Fiction

• The Santa Ana winds are important to the plot of the book White Oleander by Janet Fitch.

White Oleander is a 2002 motion picture that tells a story of a mother and her daughter and their relationship. ... Janet Fitch at the book signing tent of the Texas Book Festival Janet Fitch is most famously known as the author of the Oprahs Book Club novel White Oleander, which became a film in 2002. ...

Miscellaneous

• The Santa Ana winds are the subject of a 1965 essay by Joan Didion entitled "Los Angeles Notebook," which appears in her Slouching Towards Bethlehem collection of essays.
• There is also a band named The Santa Ana Winds Youth Band.

Joan Didion (born December 5, 1934) is an American writer, known as a journalist, essayist, and novelist. ... Joan Didions 1968 collection of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, takes its title from the poem The Second Coming, by W.B. Yeats. ... The Santa Ana Winds Youth Band is a community youth marching band in Orange County, California. ...

See also

• Chinook wind
• Diablo wind
• Föhn wind
• Katabatic wind
• Sundowner wind

Image:Shitnook wind. ... Diablo wind is a regional term for the föhn wind that often occurs in the San Francisco Bay Area. ... A föhn wind or foehn wind occurs when a deep layer of prevailing wind is forced over a mountain range (Orographic lifting). ... A katabatic wind, from the Greek word katabatikos meaning going downhill, is a wind that blows down a topographic incline such as a hill, mountain, or glacier. ... Sundowner has several meanings: // A local wind condition in Southern California Warm downslope winds that periodically occur along a short segment of the Southern California coast in the vicinity of Santa Barbara. ...

References

1. ^ *http://www.geotimes.org/oct03/WebExtra103103.html
2. ^ *http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071024/ap_on_re_us/california_wildfires
3. ^ Leipper, D. F., Fog development at San Diego, California, J. Mar. Research, 7, 337-346, 1948.
4. ^ Leipper, D. F., Fog on the United States West Coast: a review. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 75, 229-240.

• Ontario Weather Service, Southern California, Research department.: Santa Ana Wind Forecasts
• University of California, Los Angeles, Meteorology Dept.: Santa Ana Winds
• What are the Santana or Santa Ana Winds?
• "NASA Satellite Finds Something Fishy About Santa Ana Winds", Jet Propulsion Laboratory, March 11, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-05-25. 

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