WEBVTT - How Do the Santa Ana Winds Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, when the Santa Ana winds

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<v Speaker 1>blow in southern California, everyone takes notice, too many in

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<v Speaker 1>the region, writers, singers, poets, and everyone else. They're a harbinger,

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<v Speaker 1>mostly of no good. Scientifically speaking, the Santa Anna's are

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<v Speaker 1>something else, entirely a perennial natural phenomenon whose future effects

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<v Speaker 1>are now warped by a warming planet. Climate scientist Alexander

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<v Speaker 1>Gershnov with the scripts Institution of Oceanography at UC San

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<v Speaker 1>Diego told the university's news service in early nineteen climate

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<v Speaker 1>change has been projected to lengthen the dry season in

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<v Speaker 1>California and other Mediterranean climate regions, making vegetation more likely

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<v Speaker 1>to remain dry into December. These changes, together with the

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<v Speaker 1>projected lessening of least season Santa Ana winds, suggest that

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<v Speaker 1>southern California's wildfire season could shift toward winter, longer, more

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<v Speaker 1>dangerous dry seasons, wildfires raging later in the year, changes

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<v Speaker 1>in the winds. It's potentially dramatic stuff. It might seem

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<v Speaker 1>the stuff of Hollywood, but let's back up a step.

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<v Speaker 1>Santa Ana winds are dry and warm winds from the

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<v Speaker 1>Great Basin, an area that incorporates large parts of the

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<v Speaker 1>states of Nevada and Utah. The winds start in the

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<v Speaker 1>basins inland deserts east and north of southern California, and

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<v Speaker 1>then flow downward, taking a turn toward the Pacific Ocean.

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<v Speaker 1>The Santa Anna's are usually, but not always, late year

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<v Speaker 1>winds that form when the weather is cooler in the

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<v Speaker 1>Great Basin. They don't begin in hot deserts. They actually

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<v Speaker 1>start off as cool winds and are pushed towards southern

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<v Speaker 1>California by high pressure systems. But as the wind's head

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<v Speaker 1>down slope, they get both warmer because air generally heats

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<v Speaker 1>up as it descends, and drier air only a mile

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<v Speaker 1>above your head right now maybe some thirty degrees fahrenheit

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<v Speaker 1>warmer than the air around you. In metric that's the difference,

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<v Speaker 1>say between twenty one degrees celsius where you are and

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<v Speaker 1>thirty eight some six up. It doesn't take much of

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<v Speaker 1>an altitude change to make a difference. Because of this

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<v Speaker 1>and a number of other circumstances, the Santa Annas have

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<v Speaker 1>a reputation. These winds most often whip into southern California

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<v Speaker 1>during the driest part of the year, providing a metaphoric

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<v Speaker 1>bit of gasoline to the already fire ready tinder in

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<v Speaker 1>the area. For example, in December of the Santa Anna's

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<v Speaker 1>fueled the largest fire in southern California's history, the Thomas Fire,

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<v Speaker 1>which burned four hundred and forty square miles that's eleven

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<v Speaker 1>thousand square kilometers Inventor and Santa Barbara Counties. The winds

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<v Speaker 1>also fanned the flames of the October two thousand seven

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<v Speaker 1>and two thousand three wildfires, and all of these have

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<v Speaker 1>caused serious damage to property and the people in wild

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<v Speaker 1>life that lived there from the fires themselves, but also

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<v Speaker 1>from smoke. According to a paper published in the journal

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<v Speaker 1>Geophysical Research Letters in the frequency of Santa ana wind

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<v Speaker 1>events is actually decreasing and may drop by an average

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<v Speaker 1>of eighteen percent by the end of the twenty first century.

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<v Speaker 1>This is largely because the Great Basin will have fewer

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<v Speaker 1>days of the cold weather that's necessary to form the winds.

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<v Speaker 1>Though that may sound like good news, it's not. The

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<v Speaker 1>Santa Anna's will still have a busy period as they

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<v Speaker 1>do now, and it will come in the peak of

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<v Speaker 1>a later possibly longer wildfire season. That peak will shift

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<v Speaker 1>from October into November and the early winter months, which

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<v Speaker 1>could lead to bigger wildfires that burn longer. As a

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<v Speaker 1>weather phenomenon that's unique to southern California, the Santa Anna's

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<v Speaker 1>have long been associated with a certain feel. Novelist Raymond Chandler,

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<v Speaker 1>a long time so Cal resident famed for detective stories

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<v Speaker 1>like The Big Sleep, described a windy Santa Anna knight

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<v Speaker 1>in his short story Red Wind. Quote. On nights like that,

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<v Speaker 1>every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives

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<v Speaker 1>feel the edge of the carving knife and study their

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<v Speaker 1>husband's necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a

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<v Speaker 1>full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge. On the

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<v Speaker 1>other hand, Santa Anna's can sweep out impurities in the air,

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<v Speaker 1>provide welcome warmth, and offer bright blue skies and stunning

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<v Speaker 1>sunsets in the winter. The Beach Boys took this more

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<v Speaker 1>upbeat look at the winds and their song Santa Ana Winds,

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<v Speaker 1>fill my sails a desert wind and hold the waves

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<v Speaker 1>high for me. Then I will come and test my

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<v Speaker 1>skill where the Santa Ana winds blow free. Still, too

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<v Speaker 1>many residents in the area the Santa Annas have an

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<v Speaker 1>ominous feel to them. Essayist Joan Didion wrote in her

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<v Speaker 1>essay The Santa Anna's, published as part of Los Angeles

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<v Speaker 1>Notebook and Slouching towards Bethlehem in I have neither heard

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<v Speaker 1>nor read that a Santa Anna is due, but I

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<v Speaker 1>know it, and almost everyone I've seen today knows it too.

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<v Speaker 1>We know it because we feel it. The baby frets,

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<v Speaker 1>the maide sulks, I rekindle a waning argument with the

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<v Speaker 1>telephone company, then cut my losses and lie down, given

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<v Speaker 1>over to whatever it is in the air. To live

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<v Speaker 1>with the Santa Anna is to accept, consciously or unconsciously,

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<v Speaker 1>a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior. Whatever lies in

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<v Speaker 1>store for the Santa Annas and all they reap is

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<v Speaker 1>still a matter for the future. But for now, the warm,

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<v Speaker 1>dry i winds continue to blow the citizens of southern California.

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<v Speaker 1>You can feel it. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article what are the sent to Anna Winds? On House

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<v Speaker 1>to forwarks dot com, written by John Donovan. Brainstuff is

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<v Speaker 1>toff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler playing

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