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Santa Anas
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Something I meant to note earlier but forgot to and now I think it doesn't quite fit: The Santa Anas.
They're a system of winds that blow in from the east that, for several meterological reasons which I don't entirely get, come in dry and totally leech any wetness from the air and vegetation.
They're created in the desert, come howling in through the canyons between the San Bernardino foothills and San Gabriel mountains. They regularly blast this place about twice a year - early fall and early spring. They're about a month late this year.
When you grow up here, here for me being Orange County, CA, you here about the Santa Anas as the reason its so darned hot and windy. Static discharges are wretchedly common and girls can't keep their hair in order. It's a local phenomenon and one that is hard to understand when you live a stone's throw from a city named Santa Ana. (Some trivia you don't need: Santa Ana is the biggest city in OC and the county seat. Both of my parents have been teachers there.) So when you're a kid in Fullerton you figure "santa anas" are the gusts of wind that show up in September and March and obvoiusly come from Santa Ana.
It's not till much later that meterologists on the news inform you that the Santa Anas have been around forever and the local Indian tribes have their own names for them. They let you know that the Santa Anas are actually a force unto themselves, shaping and creating weather patterns throughout Southern California and into Baja.
They have been known to create windstorms that rip apart homes and trees and would have the strength of tornados or even occasionally hurricanes, except that such occasions need an opposing storm system. And 'round here there is nothing that can oppose the Santa Anas enough to create events such as these.
I remember in 1998, the El Niņo system whipped up such a fury that the South Bay faced enough wind a rain to create a tropical storm condition. This was only because while El Niņo was blowing onshore, the Santa Anas were blowing offshore. Now that's an extraordinary event that thankfully we don't get much of. We might get fires and earthquakes but at least we don't have a hurricane season.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to explain. Need to get some work done....
They're a system of winds that blow in from the east that, for several meterological reasons which I don't entirely get, come in dry and totally leech any wetness from the air and vegetation.
They're created in the desert, come howling in through the canyons between the San Bernardino foothills and San Gabriel mountains. They regularly blast this place about twice a year - early fall and early spring. They're about a month late this year.
When you grow up here, here for me being Orange County, CA, you here about the Santa Anas as the reason its so darned hot and windy. Static discharges are wretchedly common and girls can't keep their hair in order. It's a local phenomenon and one that is hard to understand when you live a stone's throw from a city named Santa Ana. (Some trivia you don't need: Santa Ana is the biggest city in OC and the county seat. Both of my parents have been teachers there.) So when you're a kid in Fullerton you figure "santa anas" are the gusts of wind that show up in September and March and obvoiusly come from Santa Ana.
It's not till much later that meterologists on the news inform you that the Santa Anas have been around forever and the local Indian tribes have their own names for them. They let you know that the Santa Anas are actually a force unto themselves, shaping and creating weather patterns throughout Southern California and into Baja.
They have been known to create windstorms that rip apart homes and trees and would have the strength of tornados or even occasionally hurricanes, except that such occasions need an opposing storm system. And 'round here there is nothing that can oppose the Santa Anas enough to create events such as these.
I remember in 1998, the El Niņo system whipped up such a fury that the South Bay faced enough wind a rain to create a tropical storm condition. This was only because while El Niņo was blowing onshore, the Santa Anas were blowing offshore. Now that's an extraordinary event that thankfully we don't get much of. We might get fires and earthquakes but at least we don't have a hurricane season.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to explain. Need to get some work done....
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