santa ana winds

Major fires continue to burn in Southern California, in some cases fueling new fires. There are currently 15 fires burning 414,013 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The large number of separate fires has effectively diluted fire suppression activities and firefighters have thus far been largely ineffective in containing them. High Santa Ana winds, low humidity and high temperatures continue to fuel advancing flames, according to AIR Worldwide.

As of Tuesday afternoon, these blazes, which number more than a dozen and are burning in seven counties, had destroyed nearly 1,500 homes and businesses, forced some 300,000 residents to evacuate their homes, and burned approximately 260,000 acres ― more than 400 square miles.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it is mobilizing federal resources and assets in coordination with the state of California and other federal agencies. DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and FEMA Administrator David Paulison traveled to the affected area yesterday to meet with state officials and asses the federal response to the wildfires. President George W. Bush is expected to visit the area on Thursday.

In addressing his Cabinet this morning, Bush said the following: "Looking forward to going out to California tomorrow. We'll continue to make sure that our efforts are coordinated, that we are responsive to the needs and people. And most importantly, I want the people in Southern California to know that Americans all across this land care deeply about them, we're concerned about their safety, we're concerned about their property, and we offer our prayers and hopes that all will turn out fine in the end. In the meantime, they can rest assured that the federal government will do everything we can to help put out these fires."

"Our priority is to support federal, state and local responders in critical life saving and life sustaining missions that protect people from the multiple wildfires," said FEMA's Paulison. "We have many resources on the ground and are deploying additional assets to assist the thousands who are displaced from their homes as a result of the fires."

As of press time, San Diego County faces the most severe conditions. More than 250,000 residents there have been evacuated, some 10,000 of them to Qualcomm Stadium. In northern San Diego, the Witch Fire has destroyed 600 homes and businesses and threatens nearly 7,000 buildings in its path. It is moving quickly westward on a 20 mile path from its rural origins near Ramona, Calif., to the more populated San Diego city limits.

Elsewhere in San Diego, the Rice Fire in Fallbrook has destroyed 500 residences. The Harris Fire, which has already burned 200 homes, threatens 2,000 more, as well as 500 commercial properties. Officials worry that the Harris Fire will spread to San Miguel Mountain, the site of important communication towers. They also fear that spreading flames will advance from their current position, inland along the mountains, to the Pacific Ocean.

Major fires are also burning in Los Angeles County, where some 2,900 firefighters have made minimal headway containing them. And new fires are cropping up. Early Tuesday, officials reported a fresh fire on the La Jolla Indian Reservation. It has consumed 1,000 acres, destroyed several structures and forced the evacuation of more than 1,500 people.

"With more than 1,000 homes destroyed so far, the fires of 2007 are not yet as severe as those of 2003, when the Cedar Fire alone destroyed more than 2,200 homes and resulted in insured losses estimated at $1.2 billion," said Glen Daraskevich, vice president of research and modeling at AIR Worldwide. "However, many of the current fires burn unabated and the potential exists to exceed the Cedar Fire both in terms of the number of structures destroyed and total insured losses."

The following wildfires have yet to be contained, as tallied by AIR Worldwide:
*Harris Fire in San Diego County
-Burned 70,000 acres
-Destroyed 200 homes
-Threatens 2,000 homes and 500 commercial properties
-Evacuated 3,000 people

*Rice Fire in San Diego County
-Burned 6,100 acres
-Destroyed 500 homes
-Threatens 2,500 homes
-Evacuated the town of Fallbrook

*Witch Fire in San Diego County
-Burned 164,000 acres
-Destroyed 500 homes, 100 commercial properties, and 50 outbuildings
-Threatens 5,000 homes, 1,500 commercial properties, and 300 outbuildings
-Highway 67 is closed from Poway to Ramona

*Buckweed Fire in Los Angeles County
-Burned 37,800 acres
-Destroyed 15 homes, 22 vehicles, and 17 outbuildings
-Threatens 55,000 homes in Santa Clarita and surrounding communities
-Evacuated 15,000 residents

*Magic Fire in Los Angeles County
-Burned 1,200 acres
-Threatens 900 homes

*Ranch Fire in Los Angeles County
-Burned 54,500 acres
-Destroyed 3 homes and 4 outbuildings
-Threatens 500 residences, 50 commercial properties, and 50 outbuildings

*Canyon Fire, Malibu in Los Angeles County
-Burned 3,800 acres
-Destroyed 6 homes and 2 businesses
-Threatens 600 homes, 200 commercial buildings, and 100 outbuildings
-Evacuated 500 homes

*Grass Valley Fire, Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino County
-Burned 300 acres
-Destroyed 100 homes
-Threatens 1,500 homes

*Slide Fire in San Bernardino County
-Burned 1,500 acres
-Destroyed 20 homes
-Threatens 400 homes

*Santiago Fire in Orange County
-Burned 15,300 acres
-Destroyed 8 outbuildings
-Threatens 3,500 homes and 150 commercial properties

Sources: FEMA, White House, AIR Worldwide

The massive wildfires in Southern California have been fanned by notoriously hot, dry winds that move through the region every fall and winter. Some call them the Santa Anas. Others call them the Devil's Breath. Since Sunday they have been blowing at near record speeds.

These winds begin when masses of cold air form over high desert plateaus in Utah and Nevada. The winds that spin off of these high pressure systems grow warmer, dryer and stronger as they spill south and west, down through mountain canyons towards the ocean.

When the winds are moderate, they blow air pollution out to sea and make life in Southern California more pleasant. But last week, after a gigantic mass of air formed over the high plateaus, the Santa Ana winds turned into monsters.

Mike Davis, a historian from the University of California, Irvine, says the high speed winds, rushing into canyons, produced "literally a blast furnace effect at the other end of the canyon."

That is what happened on Sunday, he says, when fires burned all the way to the beach.

Hurricane-Force Winds

Malibu is one of several towns and cities ravaged by the wildfires. Those fires have been fanned by a set of Santa Ana winds that is among the most ferocious since the government started keeping records in the 1930s.

"It's probably up there in the top five, as far as wind speeds go," says Eric Boldt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

He says one monitoring point, just above the Point Mugu Air Station, measured winds traveling 111 mph. Winds at another point reached 108 mph. That is the speed of winds in a Category 2 hurricane.

"Not every place felt that, obviously, but many areas did see winds of 40 to 60 mph, and that's like a tropical storm or Category 1 hurricane," Boldt said.

Worst May Be Over

Weather experts say they do not know exactly why the recent spate of Santa Ana winds has been so hellish, nor do they know whether more freakish winds and fires will arrive during the coming winter.

But Robert Fovell, an atmospheric scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, says he has a hunch that the worst is over.

"As we go on through the winter, we will still have Santa Anas, but they are typically not as hot and not as dry," he says. "As we go through the winter, we have rain, and rain decreases the plant moisture, so it decreases the fire danger."

Fovell says the biggest question now is when the next big rains will come, if they come at all. For more than a year, the region has been mired in a severe drought.

Early Wednesday morning, fire crews battling the wildfires sweeping across Southern California will be joined by a new colleague: a pilotless plane based on military technology. Onboard infrared sensors will relay data about the fires, via satellite, to firefighters on the ground.

The drone is called the Ikhana, which means "intelligent" in the Native-American Choctaw language. It's 36 feet long and will be controlled by technicians at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.

Thermal imaging isn't new ― the technology has been around for some 30 years ― but mounting the sensors on drones is a much more recent development. It was first used last year in California. This will be the drone's most important assignment to date.

The advantage of the drones is that they can stay airborne much longer than conventional aircraft ― up to 20 hours, says Everett Hinkley, program leader with the U.S. Forest Service's Remote Sensing Applications Center in Salt Lake City. The Ikhana drone is a version of the Predator drones used by the U.S. military overseas, he says.

High-Tech Fire Fighting

The infrared sensors can penetrate smoke and relay crucial data about the fire ― size, intensity and the direction it's moving ― to firefighting crews on the ground. "They produce daily maps for the battle plan," says Everett.

"It's extremely useful information, and you can do this through the smoke, which is a big advantage," adds Compton Tucker, a senior Earth scientist with NASA.

Those involved in the fire sciences, as the field is known, distinguish between strategic and tactical information. Satellites provide broad-brush strategic information about the fires in a given area. But the satellites pass overhead only twice a day. That makes them of little value to firefighters battling fast-moving blazes, like those currently burning in Southern California. Airplanes, and now drones, provide much more useful, real-time information.

Other technological advances also help crews contain wild fires: C-130s, the military cargo plane, have been refitted with side-mounted water-cannons that shoot precise streams of flame retardant. A newly designed intake hose for helicopters can douse fires with 2,000 gallons of water slurped in 30 seconds from ponds, rivers and the ocean.

One of the more promising technologies, still in the research stage, is "fire-behavior modeling." The idea is to measure the "fuel content" of a forest ― in other words, how much timber and brush is in the path of a fire ― and then determine in which direction, and how quickly, it's likely to grow.

Fundamental Dangers Remain

Despite these advances, the basic strategy of fighting a wildfire has not changed in decades. Firefighters try to encircle the fire and cut it off from fuel sources ― to starve the fire ― while dousing it from the air with flame retardants. It is labor-intensive, exhausting and often dangerous work. Last year, five firefighters were killed battling a Southern California mountain fire.

"Fundamentally, the way we go about putting out fires is the same as it was 70 years ago," say Murry Taylor, a former firefighter and author of Jumping Fire. "Yes, we have better tools, the fire engines are bigger, the crews are better trained and the aircraft are more modern. But we're dealing with Mother Nature, and she dances a mean boogie."

Thermal imaging is helpful, says Taylor, but he doubts it will be of much use in battling the rapidly moving wildfires sweeping across Southern California now.

"It's valuable data where the weather is not too extreme, but when it gets into this situation now, it's worthless," he says. "In five minutes, the data won't be worth a damn."

Santa Ana wind
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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 (or Santana winds[1]) are warm, dry winds that characteristically appear in Southern California and Northern Baja California weather during autumn and early winter.

Contents
1 Meteorology
1.1 Santa Ana fog
1.2 Unusual Santa Ana conditions
1.3 Local impact
2 Etymology
3 Santa Ana winds in popular culture
3.1 Television
3.2 Songs
3.3 Movies
3.4 Fiction
3.5 Miscellaneous
4 See also
5 References



[edit] Meteorology
Santa Anas are a type of f?hn 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).

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.

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%.


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. These same winds have burned some 300,000 acres as of late October 2007.[1]

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.


[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 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.[2]

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 intensely sunny and hot, 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).


[edit] 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.


[edit] 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), the highest official reading. Most meteorologists do not recognize this historical record.

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.

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 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 had hit south western and southern most part of California causing several wild fires and house burnings in Escondido, Malibu, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Rancho Bernardo, Del Mar, Los Angeles, the fire had burned landmarks, houses, the winds had also caused destruction and devastation to houses and other property.


[edit] 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.


[edit] Santa Ana winds in popular culture
" Those hot dry winds that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. "
―Raymond Chandler, "Red Wind"



[edit] 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.

[edit] 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, using their nickname "murder winds," 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 (band) (bringing together the Police drummer Stewart Copeland, jazz fusion bassist Stanley Clarke, singer-songwriter Deborah Holland and as a guest guitar player former Yes member Steve Howe Steve Howe (guitarist)) 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.

[edit] Movies
In the 1978 film Big Wednesday, the Santa Ana winds are mentioned in the opening sequence.
In the 1994 film Mixed Nuts, the Santa Ana winds are mentioned briefly.
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 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 1983 film Breathless, the Santa Ana Winds are described by Jesse Lujack (Richard Gere) to Monica Poiccard (Valérie Kaprisky).
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.'

[edit] Fiction
The Santa Ana winds are important to the plot of the book White Oleander by Janet Fitch.

[edit] Miscellaneous
There is also a band named The Santa Ana Winds Youth Band.
An upscale version of the Volkswagen Passat was sometimes called the Santana. Volkswagen has often named its cars for winds or currents.