How do Santa Anas form? These winds occur in the fall and winter when a high pressure system develops in the Great Basin of the interior West as a low-pressure system sets up just off the Pacific. The difference in pressure creates the winds. The winds move in the opposite direction of the normal onshore flow that car- ries cool, moist air from the Pacific Ocean into the region.What causes the wind speed? Santa Anas heat up, lose moisture and pick up speed as they are squeezed through the narrow canyons and valleys of Southern California.Gusts reached 100 miles an hour in the San Gabriel Moun- tains at 8 a.m. Wednesday, said the National Weather Service, with winds from 40 to 99 miles an hour recorded in the region Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.Wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour are expected to con- tinue through Thursday, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.Why is it worse now? In a normal year, Santa Ana winds can blow from October through May, says Alex Hall, director of the Institute of En- vironment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles. When the ground and vegetation is wet, the fire risk is low.These Santa Anas arrived on the heels of two extremely rainy years that spurred the growth of brush and grasses. Southern California then expe- rienced a particularly hot 2024 summer, followed by al- most no rain during the wet season, which began in Octo- ber. Those dried-out plants are fuel for wildfires. "We ha- ven't had our first significant rain event, and there's none in the forecast," he said.

Santa Ana Winds Drive Southern California Fires

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