Santa Ana Wind

About Santa Ana Wind: 

• It is named after Southern California’s Santa Ana Canyon.
• Santa Ana winds are dry and warm (often hot) winds in the Southern California area that blow in from the desert — which includes the Great Basin of the western United States.
• Origin: Santa Ana winds blow when high pressure builds over the Great Basin — the area between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada (a mountain range in the Western United States) — and the pressure is low over California’s coast.
• The difference in pressure triggers the movement of powerful winds from the Basin’s inland deserts, east and north of Southern California, over the mountains toward the Pacific Ocean.
• As the wind comes down the mountains, it compresses and heats up. The wind’s humidity also drops, sometimes to less than 20% or even less than 10%. The extremely low moisture turns vegetation dry, making it ready to burn.
• Winter weather patterns allow high pressure to build near the surface of the Great Basin, which then interacts with low-pressure air over the Pacific.
• Santa Ana winds usually occur from October to January.

Q1: What Is Climate Change?

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. 

News: How ‘Santa Ana’ winds and climate change are fueling wildfires in Malibu

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