The science and dangers behind Santa Ana winds
The strong winds that have happened in Ventura County have caused the waves to be extra large.
March 23, 2021
The Santa Ana winds have been part of California’s ecosystem and caused wildfires for over 5,000 years. Unfortunately, due to climate change, California has seen an increase of winds that leads to greater risks of wildfires, other damages, and has even interrupted online schooling this semester.
According to AccuWeather, Santa Ana winds are “high-speed and dangerous winds that periodically kick up and blow from the mountains to the coast in Southern California”.
The Santa Ana winds can get up to 70mph in some parts of Southern California, so they can cause many problems. They can cause trees, branches, and even power lines to fall over. Moreover, the main problem that these winds cause are wildfires.
It has been scientifically shown that the Santa Ana winds have been the effect of climate change. As stated from Scientific American, global warming “may lead to warmer, drier Santa Ana winds in the coming decades.”
The heat, dryness, and the Santa Ana winds can cause dangerous wildfires. The soil moisture is the lowest around October, causing that season to be most known for fires, also known as wildfire season. Wildfire season is from mid Summer to the end of fall, but there is always a chance for fires to happen outside of that season.
“The contraction of the rainy season with climate change will ultimately allow winter rains to be held at bay a bit longer and fuels to be drier deeper into the heart of Santa Ana wind season,” said John Abatzoglou in an email to E&E News.
Due to climate change, the rainy season has been delayed, leaving the fire season to be even more dangerous. That allows the fire season to be even more dry and with the exposure of the winds, it is like fuel to wildfires.
Back in Dec. 2017, the Thomas Fire here in Ventura County grew to be the largest wildfire in modern California history at the time. With the mix of the dry air and the Santa Ana winds that grew to be 35-45 mph on just the second day of the fire, this made the drop to 10% containment.
In the article, Why Winter Wildfires May Get Worse, it states, “It’s the combination of these two patterns—increased drying and changing winds—that creates the biggest cause for concern.”
