By Mary O’KEEFE

There’s this movie titled “The Holiday” starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black and Eli Wallach. The plot is about escaping from bad relationships. Basically Amanda (Diaz) needs to get away from a broken heart in LA and Iris (Winslet) from a broken heart in England. They decide to switch homes.

This is a perfect afternoon rom-com; however, the thing I have always liked about this movie is how it portrayed LA, Hollywood and old Hollywood. Amanda is a movie trailer editor and the movie actually shows Hollywood in a good light – because it is a community. Then old Hollywood portrays respect for Arthur (Wallach) who is an old Hollywood writer. But even more interesting was how LA and the Santa Ana winds were portrayed.

The Santa Anas is a term I learned about immediately after moving to LA. In fact, I had kind of heard about the winds when I visited LA before moving here. My husband, a Southern Californian, used to talk about the Santa Anas as if they were an entity and not a weather condition. That’s what I liked about “The Holiday” – every time the exterior was shown of Amanda’s LA home the wind was not just blowing but whipping around and yet Miles (Black) just acted like the conditions were normal.

But the Santa Anas are anything but simple winds. They can have sustained winds of 30 to 45 mph and gusts well over 80 mph. These winds are dry and strong, and we all know that when they come we all keep an even closer eye on the mountains for any sign of smoke. A wind-driven fire is the worst-case scenario for which we all prepare.

The origin of the term Santa Ana is unclear; however, many think the original name was Santanás Winds, which are traced to Spanish California when the winds were called caliente aliento de Satanás – hot breath of Satan, according to the LA Almanac.

Of course this version is contested, as are many historical stories of Los Angeles.

“The reference book ‘Los Angeles A to Z’ (by Leonard & Dale Pitt), on the other hand, credits the Santa Ana Canyon in Orange County as the origin of the name Santa Ana Winds, thereby arguing for the term Santa Anas. The late television meteorologist Dr. George Fischbeck referred to the winds, in his folksy manner, as the ‘Santa Annies.’ Some early accounts attributed the Santa Ana riverbed running through the canyon as the source of the winds. Yet another account placed the origin of Santa Ana Winds with an Associated Press correspondent stationed in Santa Ana who, in a 1901 dispatch, mistakenly began using Santa Ana Winds instead of Santana Winds,” according to the LA Almanac.

It does appear that the “hot breath of Satan” seems to fit the lore and it does seem to fit the winds themselves. These winds have been referenced in so many movies and television shows, including inspiring a song about the winds causing people to be “weird” in “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”

The winds do seem to change the personality of Southern Californians. We seem to speak a sort of shorthand; for example, when someone sneezes saying “bless you” may be quickly followed by “Santa Anas?” In fact, saying Santa Ana as a question can encompass so many things – from headaches to a bad hair day. What I noticed was there wasn’t anything added to the question. You fight through the wind to the grocery store and while you are attempting to straighten your hair someone will come up and simply say, “Santa Anas?” and you smile and nod. You go to buy aspirin during this windy condition and the clerk will just ask, “Santa Anas?” and you nod in agreement. It is an amazing phenomenon that appears to be uniquely Southern Californian.

The meteorological explanation of the Santa Anas is little less dramatic than the devil’s involvement.

Santa Ana Winds (SAWs) across southwest California and the northern Baja peninsula of western North America are a type of down sloping offshore wind (from the northeast quadrant)…. Air moving from the desert toward the coast accelerates through gaps in the local terrain via the Venturi effect, which results in SAWs along and in the lee of the transverse and peninsular ranges, according to American Meteorological Society (AMS).

“The extreme dry and windy conditions during SAW events create favorable conditions for producing catastrophic wildfires, particularly in the fall and early winter when the native vegetation is most receptive to ignitions. During such events, fires can quickly propagate across the wildland urban interface regions, threatening lives and property,” according to AMS.

And that is where the devil may live – in the wildfires. A wind-driven wildfire is the one of those events that really does seem evil driven. The fire moves so fast and firefighters who are used to putting themselves between the fire and the community face an even greater challenge as it is decided how the fire will be fought.

So as we continue to face our Santa Anas let’s make sure we secure everything in our yards as the winds pick up. Most importantly let’s make sure we are ready and on alert for wildfires.

There is a Red Flag Warning and High Wind Warning through today at 4 p.m.

Santa Anas are expected to bring sustained winds from 35 to 50 mph with gusts of 60 mph.

These Santa Anas are dry and may be a little colder than usual and are being driven by an “inside slider,” according to Rose Schoenfeld, meteorologist from NOAA.

Usually the Santa Anas result from a low pressure area from the northwest over the water but in this case the low pressure is creeping out of the land from the northeast angle, which is driving the winds, she said.

Schoenfeld added that residents should take extreme cautions and stay alert during the Santa Anas. Be prepared for wildfires and the possibility of evacuations by utilizing LA County Fire Dept.’s Ready. Set. Go. And stay alert to any changes in the forecast.

The High Wind and Red Flag warnings are to end today at 4 p.m. The temperatures will continue to stay in the low to mid 70s to Tuesday with a chance of rain on Monday.