What weather phenomenon causes the Santa Ana winds? How did they get this name?
A Yahoo! search on “Santa Ana Winds,” yielded promising results. The first site on the list, KFBW.com, an A.M. news station serving L.A. and Orange Counties, defined the weather phenomenon: Santa Anas are warm, dry, gusty offshore winds that blow from the east or northeast and occur below the passes and canyons of the coastal ranges of Southern California and in the Los Angeles Basin. According to San Diego’s National Weather Service forecasters, winds must blow at speeds greater than 25 knots to be called Santa Anas. They accelerate to speeds of 35 knots as they move through canyons and passes, with gusts to 50 or even 60 knots. Several meteorological conditions contribute to the phenomenon. The Bernoulli effect accounts for increased speeds when the desert wind is pushed through
