Originally posted by DreaminDirector
I also heard that this is the anniversary of the Malibu fires about 10 years ago too. Strange stuff... well, not so strange if it was an arsonist...
Not quite sure I understand all this talk about the "strange coincidences" between the timing of the So Cal fires and the collective anniversaries of the Malibu, Oakland, Laguna Beach, et. al. fires.
If you've lived in California long enough, you know that September and October are classic Santa Ana months. You can practically set your clock to it, just as you can to June and the marine layer (aka, "June Gloom").
I believe we also have similar Santa Ana conditions for a short time in the spring, but Sept-Oct is typically worse. Drier and warmer...the jet stream allows an occassional strong High pressure system to camp out over northern Nevada and Colorado for days at a time, naturally displacing the air around it in a counter-clockwise (southwesterly) direction towards California and the Pacific (the opposite direction air normally flows here). Great for surfing, but lousy for most everything else.
But there's a mountain range that the displaced air has to high tail over and through, followed by a series of hills on the other side (this is earthquake country after all). The air takes the quickest and least resistant path funneling through the canyons and valleys, increasing in speed, warming the air and drying it out significantly. Result: Santa Ana winds.
It comes at a time when we are especially vulnerable, at the end of the summer, where again, if you know summers in California, most regions haven't seen a drop of rain for months. Most of So Cal is pretty dry in anticipation of our first rain for the winter and much of the wild growth around us has died off or is desperate for water. This is why the Santa Anas are so much worse in Sept-Oct than in the spring. Especially in the less densly populated areas (hills, canyons and mountian regionsread: Oakland Heights, Malibu, Laguna Beach, Alta Dena, Upland, San Diego, etc.).
Whole communities are being built in hills and areas that for years were subject to wildfires in years past. I've noticed fewer large fires over the years locally, but as the density of homes has increased in these areas where the wind can really take a toll, we're seeing fires taking out hundreds of homes where 25-30 years ago, we might have only seen a handful.
