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 strong, extremely dry offshore winds that characteristically sweep through in Southern California and northern Baja California in late fall into winter. They can range from hot to cold, depending on the prevailing temperatures in the source regions, the Great Basin and upper Mojave Desert. However, the winds are remembered most for the hot dry weather (often the hottest of the year) that they bring in the fall.

[edit] Description

[edit] Meteorology

Santa Ana winds are a type of drainage wind, an offshore wind that results from the buildup of air pressure in the high-altitude Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. When upper level winds are favorable, this high altitude air mass spills out of the Great Basin and is propelled gravitationally towards the southern California coastline, generally as a northeasterly wind.

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 surface air in the elevated regions of the Great Basin and Mojave Desert (the "high desert") becomes cool or even cold, although they may form at virtually any time of year. The air heats up due to adiabatic heating during its descent. While the air has already been dried by orographic lift before reaching the Great Basin as well as by subsidence from the upper atmosphere, the relative humidity of the air is further decreased as it descends from the high desert toward the coast, often falling below 10 percent.

The air from the high desert is initially relatively dense owing to its coolness and aridity, and thus tends to channel down the valleys and canyons in gusts which can attain hurricane force at times. As it descends, the air not only becomes drier, but also warms adiabatically by compression. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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

Note that while the Santa Ana Winds are an adiabatic wind, they are not a Föhn wind. A Föhn wind results from precipitation on the windward side of a mountain range which releases latent heat into the atmosphere which is then warmer on the leeward side (e.g. the Chinook or the original Föhn). The Santa Ana winds do not originate in precipitation, but in the bone-dry high deserts.

The combination of wind, heat, and dryness accompanying the Santa Ana winds turns the chaparral into explosive fuel feeding 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 (1,720 km²) as of late October 2007.^[2]

Although the winds often have a destructive nature, they have some positive benefits as well. They cause cold water to rise from below the surface layer of the ocean, 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 the upwelling. 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.

[edit] 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 miles) of the atmosphere from the north through east, the lower atmosphere continues to be dry. When 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]

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.

[edit] Cold Santa Anas

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Popular experience

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 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. Gastrointestinal effects such as hypermotility and psychological effects such as anxiety and irritability can be produced by these winds.^[5]. These effects are thought to be produced by increased levels of serotonin in the body ^[6]. It has been hypothesized that the positively charged CO2 ion, produced by these winds prevents the naturally occurring breakdown of serotonin in the body, giving rise to the increased levels.^[7] These serotonergic effects have been reported to be successfully reduced with ambient anionization.^[8]

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.

[edit] Similar winds

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. Since high pressure areas usually migrate east, changing the pressure gradient in southern California to the northeast, it is common for "sundowner" wind events to precede Santa Ana events by a day or two.^[9]

Winds blowing off the elevated glaciated plateaus of Greenland and Antarctica experience the most extreme form of katabatic wind, of which the Santa Ana is a type, for the most part. The winds start at a high elevation and flow outward and downslope, attaining hurricane gusts in valleys, along the shore, and even out to sea. Like the Santa Ana, these winds also heat up by compression and lose humidity, but since they start out so extraordinarily cold and dry and blow over snow and ice all the way to the sea, the perceived difference is negligible.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Historical impact

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, Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 and the Witch Fire.

In October 2007 the winds fueled major wild fires and house burnings in Escondido, Malibu, Rainbow, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, and in the major cities of San Bernardino, San Diego and Los Angeles. The Santa Ana winds were also a factor in the November 2008 California wildfires.

[edit] Etymology

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

According to the Los Angeles Almanac: "The original spelling of the name of the winds is unclear, not to mention the origin. The name "Santa Ana Winds" is said to be traced to Spanish California, when the winds were called devil winds due to their heat. 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. The original form may have been Satanás winds, from the Spanish vientos de Satán ("winds of Satan"). Sanatanas is a rarer form of Satanás and is a translation of a native name in an unspecified language.^{[citation needed]}

Dr. George Fischbeck was a widely viewed newscaster in Southern California in the 1970s and 1980s who incorrectly called the winds the "Santana winds", noting that they were not confined to Orange County (where Santa Ana is located), but occurred throughout Southern California. He delighted in the symbolism of the devil's breath playing havoc with Southern California.

A recent popular guide 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. This might be supported by early accounts which attributed the Santa Ana River bed running through the canyon as the source of the winds. However, since the phenomenon occurs throughout Southern California and not just Orange County, this explanation is likely only a recent one.

One account places the origin of the term 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.

[edit] Santa Ana winds in popular culture

[edit] Film

• 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 1984 film Top Secret! the tropical island paradise is said to be ravaged by the Santa Ana winds.
• In the 1994 film Mixed Nuts Catherine (Rita Wilson) blames the Santa Anas for everyone's odd behavior, then admits she doesn't even know what the Santa Anas are.
• 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 2001 film My First Mister, Benjamin Wilson (John Goodman) struggles with his restaurant signs that have been blown down by the winds.
• In the 2003 film Bells of Innocence, the redskin says that this wind will not allow the God Books arrive in Mexico.
• 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".
• In the 2009 film I Love You Man, Paul Rudd states to potential buyers of Lou Ferrigno's estate that 'when the Santa Ana Winds come through, it is truly majestic.'

[edit] Music

[edit] 1970s

• 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 song "L.A. Woman" (1971) 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."
• Debby Boone's 1978 album Midstream includes the song "California", with the lyric, "...California, where the sun is warm, where the winds called Santa Ana make you feel like you belong..."

[edit] 1980s

• The Beach Boys song "Santa Ana Winds" appears on their 1980 album Keepin' the Summer Alive.
• The song "Babylon Sisters" by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen from the Steely Dan album "Gaucho" (1980) has the refrain "Here come those Santa Ana winds again."
• The Santa Ana Winds are referred to in the 1983 song "I Love L.A." by Randy Newman: "And the Santa Ana Winds blowing hot from the north..."
• On Survivor's 1983 album Caught in the Game, there is included an atmospheric song named "Santa Ana Winds" that refers to a disastrous woman.
• 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.
• The a capella group The Bobs' song "Santa Ana Woman" from their 1988 album Songs for Tomorrow Morning 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.

[edit] 1990s

• The song "Summer Rain" (1990) by Belinda Carlisle has the lyrics "I remember the rain on our skin. And his kisses hotter than the Santa Ana winds."
• Rancid makes reference to the winds in the song "Brad Logan" on the Chef Aid: The South Park Album (1998). "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."

[edit] 2000s

• The song "Mansfield" from Elton John's 2001 album Songs from the West Coast mentions a "California moon" and contains the lyrics "The Santa Ana winds blew warm into your room".
• Bad Religion mentions the winds a few times, using their nickname "murder winds", "St. Anne's skirts are billowing" and the line "The fans of Santa Ana are withering" in the song "Los Angeles Is Burning" from the 2004 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."
• The song "Catch My Disease" (2005) by Ben Lee has the lyrics "She told me about the winds from Santa Ana/ And that's the way I like it."
• Danish band Mew's song "The Zookeeper's Boy" from their 2005 album And the Glass Handed Kites refers to the winds in the lyric "Santa Ana winds bring seasickness."
• Jason Mraz's unreleased "Silent Love Song" refers to the Santa Ana winds.
• Midnite mentions the Santa Ana winds in a track called "Mexicanadamerica" from the album, Ina Now.

[edit] Literature

• Raymond Chandler's 1938 detective story "Red Wind" opens with a description of the Santa Anas and their effect on the populace.
• 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.
• The Santa Ana winds are important aspects in the 1985 novel Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis.
• The Santa Ana winds are important to the plot of the 1999 novel White Oleander by Janet Fitch.
• Lee Child describes the winds and their effect in his 2007 novel Bad Luck and Trouble.
• Neil Peart's autobiography/travelogue Traveling Music begins with a lengthy description of his adopted hometown, Santa Monica, including a passage about the Santa Ana winds.
• The 2008 Robert Crais book Chasing Darkness, featuring his longtime P.I. character Elvis Cole, begins in the burning hills of L.A. during the Santa Ana wind-ravaged fire season
• The prologue of Clive Barker's 2001 Coldheart Canyon describes in three pages how the winds "come sighing off the desert, heavy with their perfume..." in a metaphysical as well as environmental sense.

[edit] Television

• Several references to the winds are made in the hit TV show Beverly Hills, 90210.
• The above Chandler passage is quoted by Ed Asner in his role as Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show as an example of how to write prose.
• 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.
• Kitty's fear of the winds were featured in the "Date Night" episode of the ABC series Brothers & Sisters.
• Reference made on Showtime's Weeds in the end of season three, when Santa Anas fuel a fire in the hills surrounding the suburb of Agrestic.
• Cycle 11 of America's Next Top Model featured a shoot where contestants portrayed natural disasters. Contestant Analeigh Tipton portrayed the winds.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• There is also a band named The Santa Ana Winds Youth Band, although this refers to woodwind and brass instruments.

[edit] See also

• Climate of the Los Angeles Basin
• Chinook wind
• Diablo wind
• Foehn wind
• Katabatic wind
• Sundowner (wind)
• Sirocco

[edit] 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.
5. ^ AJ Giannini,DA Malone, TA Piotrowski. The serotonin irritation syndrome--A new clinical entity?. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 47:22-25, 1986. PMID 2416736.
6. ^ AJ Giannini, S Castellani, AE Dvoredsky. Anxiety states: Relationship to atmospheric cations and serotonin. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 44:262-4, 1983. PMID 6190795.
7. ^ AJ Giannini. Serotonin irritation syndrome: A hypothesis. International Journal of Psychiatry and Medicine.. 9:199-204. 1978-1979. PMID 755024
8. ^ AJ Giannini, BT Jones, RH Loiselle. Reversibility of serotonin irritation syndrome with atmospheric anions. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 47:141-143, 1986. PMID 3949723.
9. ^ Ryan, G., and L. E. Burch, 1992: An analysis of sundowner winds: A California downslope wind event. Preprints, Sixth Conf. on Mountain Meteorology, Portland, OR, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 64-67.

[edit] External links

• 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. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2004/82.cfm. Retrieved 2006-05-25.