The Santa Ana winds are dry, powerful winds that blow down the mountains toward the Southern California coast. The region sees about 10 Santa Ana wind events a year on average, typically occurring from fall into January. When conditions are dry, as they are right now, these winds can become a severe fire hazard.

They can even be a boating hazard. In the strongest cases, Santa Ana winds howl well offshore to Catalina, San Clemente and the Channel Islands.

Santa Ana winds occur when air flows west from a region of high pressure over the dry Great Basin to lower pressure off the California coast, According to Accuweather. As that cool interior air flows over and through mountain passes, it accelerates, sinks and compresses.

The National Weather Service issued its most serious red flag warning for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties this week as the fires still burn

Could the windstorm that stoked the Los Angeles fires happen in Northern California? The answer is yes, and it also resulted in a historic fire disaster. Here's an explanation of the phenomenon.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Santa Ana winds are common in Southern California during cooler ... passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch.” San Diego’s 7 most dangerous intersections could soon get a safety overhaul.

Even as four wildfires continued to burn in Los Angeles County Wednesday, the blazes were already rewriting the record books.

Southern California residents are facing dire new wildfire warnings and power shutoffs while they prepare to flee at a moment's notice as fire-fueling winds blasted across the scarred landscape.

The intense and fast-moving fires that have cut a path of destruction through the suburbs of Los Angeles, killing at least two people, are being driven by the region's powerful Santa Ana winds ... mountain range, the San Gabriel Mountains, and out to ...

Dozens of people are believed to have died in the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have burned down whole swaths of communities

Smoke from wildfires in Los Angeles is drifting to the San Diego region, causing a dip in air quality and prompting North County fire officials to issue a smoke advisory.

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