Santa Ana winds
- Strong gusts known as the Santa Ana winds bring dry air from the Great Basin area of the West into Southern California (a state in the U.S.).
- The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry downslope winds that originate inland and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja California.
- They originate from cool, dry high-pressure air masses in the Great Basin.
- The winds are known for the hot, dry weather that they bring in autumn (often the hottest of the year).
- They often bring the lowest relative humidities of the year to coastal Southern California.
- This low humidity, combined with the warm, compressionally-heated air mass, plus high wind speeds, create critical fire weather conditions.
