In this audio and accompanying slides, I answer the question, "What atmospheric conditions contribute to the development of a strong Santa Ana wind in Southern California? Why is a Santa Ana wind warm? Why is it also dry?"
3. What are they?
• The Santa Ana winds are strong, down sloping
winds which come through the mountain
passes in S. California
• Form from a high-pressure system over the
Mojave desert and Great Basin which
produces anticyclonic winds which flow
through the S. California terrain from the
Northeast
4. Notable Characteristics
• Katabatic- they flow down in altitude
• Warmth: the winds are warmed by an
adiabatic process as it descends
• Dryness- as the air masses descend, their
humidity decreases because of subsistence
and orographic lift
