Santa Ana Winds Bring Threat of Inferno and Property Damage in Southern California

Santa Ana winds reportedly wreaked havoc across Southern California, contributing to the spread of active wildfires and causing property damage, as well as bringing a threat of inferno in areas not yet affected by the ongoing blaze.

The strong winds on Wednesday, November 16, lashed out in the Los Angeles and Ventura counties where it toppled semi-trucks and ignited a pallet yard in Fontana.

Sometimes called as "devil winds," the term Santa Ana winds were derived from the Santa Ana canyon in California's Orange County, located south of Los Angeles and near the city of Santa Ana.

These weather phenomena are not your typical daily winds.

In fact, they are widely known as powerful, dry downslope winds that originate in the cool and high-pressure air masses in the Great Basin.

In the past, these warm winds mostly affect the coastal areas of Southern California and the northern part of Baja California in Mexico, especially during the cool season months from October to March.

Based on the recent event, these highly-pressurized air mass can occur during the late autumn season and even before the winter season in December.

Southern California Santa Ana Winds

The Southern California Santa Ana winds started with moderate intensity on Tuesday morning, November 15, and strengthened to gusts level between 60 and 70 miles per hour in some areas, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), as cited by the Los Angeles Times.

However, the winds are expected to weaken eventually but will continue until Thursday morning, November 17.

The NWS issued a red flag warning for the said two California counties due to strong winds and low humidity levels, which are both elements of fire weather conditions and can cause extreme fire risk across the region.

NWS Meteorologist Mike Wofford said fuel moistures remain low in western Los Angeles County and Ventura County despite the winter storm last week that brought substantial rainfall.

The dry winds caused infrastructural and travel problems throughout Southern California, knocking out electrical equipment and made travel difficult.

Fontana Fire

In Fontana, a Santa Ana wind-fueled fire damaged at least one home and several cars just before Wednesday midnight, prompting crews of the San Bernardino County Fire Department to respond at the fire site near Boyle and Catawba avenues and the 10 Freeway.

Officials said the blaze may have ignited from some type of pallet or truck yard before it spread to the adjacent property, as cited by ABC 7 news.

There was also a point when the fire was upgraded by the fire authorities to a 3rd alarm fire with winds reaching up to 50 miles per hour.

In the coming days, the Santa Ana winds can still recur after the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) of the NWS issued high winds warnings and wind advisories for some areas of Southern California.

However, the looming Arctic cold front over the Rockies could also help mitigate the windy conditions.