I've gathered some information about the Santa Ana winds. For reasons
of copyright, I am posting just brief excerpts here; for more in-depth
info, please click the link beneath each excerpt. This will take you
to the text of the full article from which the excerpt was derived.
"Santa Anas are warm, dry, gusty offshore winds that blow from the
east or northeast and occur below the passes and canyons of the
coastal ranges of Southern California and in the Los Angeles Basin.
According to San Diego's National Weather Service forecasters, winds
must blow at speeds greater than 25 knots to be called Santa Anas.
They accelerate to speeds of 35 knots as they move through canyons and
passes, with gusts to 50 or even 60 knots...
Although different scenarios may contribute to a Santa Ana event, the
most common pattern involves a high pressure region sitting over the
Great Basin (the high plateau that's west of the Rockies and east of
the Sierras)...
It's interesting to note that similar weather events with different
names occur in other areas along the West Coast. In the Pacific
Northwest, the Chinooks are caused by a downhill flow very similar to
the Santa Anas. The Northern California version of this wind is
sometimes referred to as the Diablo."
Ask Yahoo!: What weather phenomenon causes the Santa Ana winds?
http://ask.yahoo.com/20020114.html
"The Santana Winds or Santa Ana Winds, most common in the late summer
and early fall, begin with dry air moving in from the interior of the
U.S. towards Southern California. As this air flows down into the Los
Angeles Basin through the low gaps in the mountains (notably Cajon
Pass on the east end of the San Gabriel Mountains and Soledad Pass
south of Palmdale), it compresses and warms about five degrees
Fahrenheit for every 1,000 feet that it descends. Though these winds
are much cooler high in the mountains, they can become hot and dry and
assume gale force when descending into the Los Angeles Basin. They are
often the source of air turbulence for aircraft approaching Los
Angeles International Airport.
The original spelling of the of name of the winds is unclear, not to
mention the origin. Although the winds have been commonly called Santa
Ana Winds or Santa Anas, many argue that the original name is Santana
Winds or Santanas."
Los Angeles Almanac: What are the Santana or Santa Ana Winds?
http://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we23.htm
"Santa Ana winds are warm, dry winds that characteristically appear in
Southern California weather during autumn and early winter.
Santa Ana Winds blowing dust out into the Pacific.Santa Anas are a
type of föhn wind, the result of air pressure buildup in the
high-altitude Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky
Mountains. This air mass 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 actually form during
autumn and early spring when the desert is relatively cold. The air
heats up due to adiabatic heating while being compressed during its
descent. It is further dried 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 and western
San Diego County at typical speeds of 35 knots. The southern
California coastal region gets 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%.
Smoke from the October 2003 fires blowing out to sea.As the Santa Ana
winds are channeled through the mountain passes they can approach
hurricane force."
Wikipedia: Santa Ana wind x
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds
"The Santa Ana is a special type of wind, known as a katabatic wind,
that is well known in several parts of the world. In other parts of
the American West, this wind is called the Chinook. In southern France
it is called the Mistral. In Austria and Germany it is called the
Foehn. (Foehn is both the generic term for warm downslope winds, such
as the Santa Ana and Chinook winds of North America, and the name for
such winds when they occur in Germany and Austria.)
All these winds result from the same general interaction of
atmospheric conditions and landscape. A few ingredients are required.
First, air pools at high elevation, where it cools. This happens
because, in rocky or mountainous terrain, air behaves much like water.
Winds pass over the top of mountains, but, like the eddies that swirl
near rocks on a rocky shoreline, some air breaks away from the main
wind stream, where it gathers and cools. Certain weather conditions
can cause this cooled air to spill down from its high-elevation
position. In the case of the Santa Ana wind, these conditions are
usually provided by high pressure in the northern Rocky Mountains of
the U.S. The clockwise air circulation of this high pressure system
forces the winds downwards from the high plateau.
Once the air is dislodged from its high elevation, it sinks rapidly,
because it is cooler than the surrounding air below, and cooler air
has greater density than warmer air. As it sinks, the surrounding
pressure increases, which compresses this cool, dry air. Under
compression (called adiabatic compression), its temperature increases
- at a rate of 10°C per kilometer (29°F per mile)."
The Environmental Literacy Council: The Santa Ana Katabatic Winds
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/672.html
"Named after Southern California's Santa Ana Canyon and a fixture of
local legend and literature, the Santa Ana is a blustery, dry and warm
(often hot) wind that blows out of the desert. In Raymond Chandler's
story Red Wind, the title being one of the offshore wind's many
nicknames, the Santa Anas were introduced as '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.' Local
legends associate the hot, dry winds with homicides and earthquakes,
but these are myths.
Another popular misconception that the winds are hot owing to their
desert origin. Actually, the Santa Anas develop when the desert is
cold, and are thus most common during the cool season stretching from
October through March. High pressure builds over the Great Basin
(e.g., Nevada) and the cold air there begins to sink. However, this
air is forced downslope which compresses and warms it at a rate of
about 10C per kilometer (29F per mile) of descent. As its temperature
rises, the relative humidity drops; the air starts out dry and winds
up at sea level much drier still. The air picks up speed as it is
channeled through passes and canyons."
UCLA Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences: The Santa Ana Winds
http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~fovell/ASother/mm5/SantaAna/winds.html
Regarding the origin of the name:
"Santa Ana winds may get their name from the Santa Ana Mountains that
lie in Orange County or the Santa Ana Canyon through which the winds
are noted for their high speed. Many Southern Californians believe
that the traditional name is Santanas, meaning devil winds in an
undetermined language. The similar word 'Satanás' is Spanish for
'Satan.' Santanas was occasionally used in early reports, but modern
scholars have not agreed on the etymology of the word. It is rarely
spelled that way today, though the pronunciation is still heard."
Wikipedia: Santa Ana wind
http://en.wikipedia.org/wikvi/Santa_Ana_winds
"In the February 1933 issue of the United States Naval Institute
Proceedings, Lt. Comdr. 0. H. Holtman recalled that, in the early days
of Spanish exploration, it was the custom to name places and
occurrences for the saint on whose day the discovery or event took
place. He mentions several blows of hurricane force so named in the
logs of early navigators. He then expresses the belief that the first
Santa Ana during Spanish times must have been experienced on July
26th, Saint Anne's day, and was named for her. This seems doubtful for
two reasons. The first is that the first Santa Ana would not have been
an important enough event to rate a name. The second is that early
records of the missions and expeditions do not mention these winds by
name, although attention was paid to weather conditions.
Several articles on the origin of the name Santa Ana are to be found
in the March and April issues of Touring Topics in 1933. One theory
offered was that the winds were named after the blustery Mexican
general and president, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Another writer
thought that the name was derived from an Indian word Santana, meaning
big or bad wind. This point of view has gained an increasing support,
and has become official in some circles. Still another held that the
name originated from the Spanish word Satana, meaning Satan. The
majority point of view among Southern Californians was, and is, that
the winds are named for the locality of the same name."
Journal of San Diego History: THE SANTA ANA WINDS
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/58january/santa.htm
You may be interested in some of the material in this answer to an
earlier question on a related subject:
Google Answers: Weather
http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=564672
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "santa ana" winds named OR origin
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22santa+ana%22+winds+named+OR+origin
I hope this is helpful! If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before
you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
