“Life is the fire that burns and the sun that gives light. Life is the wind and the rain and the thunder in the sky. Life is matter and is earth, what is and what is not, and what beyond is in Eternity.”

~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman Philosopher

Monday we attended the funeral of Captain Albert Torres, LA City Park ranger. My husband and he served together for over 30 years. As if intended for the occasion, the skies were smoky; a few ashes floated to the ground. Sadly our friend’s life ended after a long and exhausting shift battling the recent Saddleridge fire. With Albert in mind, I am reminded of those families, friends and communities touched by fire-related tragedy.

As mentioned previously in Weather in the Foothills, humans cause 95% of wildfires. Now add Santa Ana winds.

Depending on your location, the same wind type may have its own regional name For example: Santa Barbara has sundowners, the Central Coast has Lucias, the San Francisco Bay Area has diablos.  No matter, their effects are potentially the same.

These hurricane-like winds transform California coastal hills into a hellscape when they catch a spark. And this fall, they’ve been launching a nightmarish onslaught of fires in both northern and Southern California. To put this observation into a more scientific one, Santa Anas are katabatic winds, which is Greek for “to flow downhill.” At this time of year, a cold and dense air mass builds over the Great Basin, which includes most of Nevada and parts of Utah, Oregon, Idaho and California; an area of high-pressure results. Further to the west along the coastline temperatures are much warmer or still plain ol’ summer-like hot! In contrast, this area has lower pressure. Mother Nature attempts to keep her realm fair and balanced, as seen with pressure systems.

The Great Basin is at a higher elevation than the LA Basin’s sea-level one. High pressure always flows into low pressure. In Southern California, as air flows through the canyons, it compresses and heats. We experience the end result: Santa Ana winds. The rest, becomes history … often a sad one. 

Cool and wind-free weather is coming up.

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley
resident and  Official Skywarn
Spotter for the National Weather Service. Reach her at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick