The Science of the Fierce Santa Ana Winds
When you purchase through links on our land site , we may earn an affiliate committee . Here ’s how it works . Hurricane - force winds are whipping through much of the westerly United States today ( Dec. 1 ) , spark wildfires , knocking out top executive and alternate semi - trucks — but there ’s no tropic storm driving the vivid gusts . In Southern California , these freakish winds are calledSanta Ana winds , strong down - slope winds that blow through the Santa Ana Mountain passes at fastness of 40 mph ( 64 kph ) , according to the National Weather Service ....