One of the complicating factors of this week’s first windstorm was that, unlike a typical Santa Ana event, it had a slightly more northerly direction, putting the winds perpendicular to the mountains and forcing them to crash over the range like waves smacking large rocks on the seashore. This brought strong winds to areas where they don’t normally occur.
As they pushed through the mountains, the winds also created swirling wind patterns known as eddies, just like water would in a river as it passes a rock. That made the wind swirl on the sheltered side of the mountains, leading blazes like the Eaton fire to burn in an especially erratic pattern. For now, while next week’s winds may be intense, they should follow a more classic path through the region.
While such a series of Santa Ana winds is not uncommon in January, the extreme fire conditions have been worsened by the arid weather that has brought only meager rainfall since last May. Typically, the peak fire season in this region ends with the arrival of rain in the fall.
A sprinkling of rain may finally come toward the end of next week, but if it does, it will likely not be anywhere close to the amount the area would needs to stop the fire danger.
