When the coldest months of the year arrive, in California (United States) the Santa Ana winds. They are dry, warm and blow from inland towards the sea, so they are capable of turning any spark into a large fire: that is why they are also known as the “winds of the devil”. Now, a series of fires that started Tuesday in the area have gotten out of control, fueled by a dangerous storm of these winds. It is a “life-threatening” storm with hurricane-force gusts, in the words of the United States National Weather Service.
The fire is spreading rapidly and the authorities have warned that the worst may come in the next few hours throughout this Wednesday due to the wind storm. According to the California Department of Fire Protection, the flames are burning around five football fields per minute in the state.
Why is it so dangerous?
“The Santa Ana wind is the equivalent of the west wind in the Valencian Community or the south wind in the Cantabrian Sea,” Víctor M. González, Meteored disseminator and Emergency Coordinator, explains to ABC. The problem with this type of wind is that it drastically drop the ambient humidity, even below 10% in the case of the Californian phenomenon. “It is very dry and quite warm,” he explains, which is why it serves as a trigger for large fires.
What speed does it reach?
This wind becomes especially dangerous in situations like the current one, where its speed has raised all the alarms. The forecast points to widespread spells of between 80 and 130 km/h. That is, there will be gusts of hurricane-force winds. “The Santa Ana winds are usually strong, but as strong as these is not usually common,” explains the popularizer. Normally, they stay around 60-80 km/h.
How are they formed?
The Santa Ana winds are being pumped hard by a fairly intense storm located in the central United States. Thus, the air mass is ‘forced’ to climb the rocky mountains, that separate the desert from the coastal region. Once they ‘climb’ this immense mountain range, the air mass collapses. “As they fall from the Rockies towards the coast, they pick up speed,” explains González. It is what is known as “katabatic winds”, because they fall sharply, like a waterfall of dense, dry air that rushes into the void.
Can the fire be stopped?
With these conditions, the popularizer says, fires are considered “outside the capacity for extinction.” Either they run out of fuel, or weather conditions improve. There is no way to stop them in any way under the current conditions. For now, the North American National Weather Service maintains the fire alert at its highest level until Thursday.
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