In the past several fires were attributed to the tree huggers not allowing clear cutting. Any evidence of that this time?
VERY happy to hear that you were spared from all the devastation going on around you!! We may have to put up with the occasional tornado around here but I can't imagine what the people facing these fires are going through.
Bob
Bob
Glad that all is well!!!
Thank you everyone.
Gary, to answer your question, when the high winds blow here, with gusts in the 70 to 100 mph range, it will cause the cables of the high voltage power towers to swing, and they eventually come close enough together to arc & make sparks, the sparks touch off the dry brush below the towers, and we have a fire. Another cause of fires are poorly running cars that fill their catalytic converters with unburned fuel thus creating sparks or flames. Lightning has occasionally started fires, but that was not the case this time. However, if you have watched the news, you have seen that over a dozen fires were started. Some of them are nowhere near a road or high voltage power towers. The remainder of the fires were started by arsonists.
Much of Southern California is a dry, desert area. Some of that desert has been reclaimed, valley by valley, because we import water from the western & eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Colorado River. Dry brush is natural to the ladscape. So are the dry, hot, high speed desert winds (aka Santana winds). We were lucky this time, the high winds only lasted a few days. They can last upwards of two weeks. To give you an example, 2 nights ago the temperature in the evening never dropped below 80 degrees, last night the temperature dropped to about 65 degrees, a 15 degree difference in 24 hours, simply because the direction of the winds changed.
George
Gary, to answer your question, when the high winds blow here, with gusts in the 70 to 100 mph range, it will cause the cables of the high voltage power towers to swing, and they eventually come close enough together to arc & make sparks, the sparks touch off the dry brush below the towers, and we have a fire. Another cause of fires are poorly running cars that fill their catalytic converters with unburned fuel thus creating sparks or flames. Lightning has occasionally started fires, but that was not the case this time. However, if you have watched the news, you have seen that over a dozen fires were started. Some of them are nowhere near a road or high voltage power towers. The remainder of the fires were started by arsonists.
Much of Southern California is a dry, desert area. Some of that desert has been reclaimed, valley by valley, because we import water from the western & eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Colorado River. Dry brush is natural to the ladscape. So are the dry, hot, high speed desert winds (aka Santana winds). We were lucky this time, the high winds only lasted a few days. They can last upwards of two weeks. To give you an example, 2 nights ago the temperature in the evening never dropped below 80 degrees, last night the temperature dropped to about 65 degrees, a 15 degree difference in 24 hours, simply because the direction of the winds changed.
George
quote:aka Santana winds
Carlos has such ferocious farts they named them?????
The mexicans call the desert wind satans wind, satan in Spanish is santanas. Slightly Anglicized, the word becomes santana. There is a city in Orange County named Santa Ana (Saint Anne). Its not unusual for the winds to be mistakenly called Santa Ana winds in the newspapers and on the news broadcasts.
I doubt Saint Anne appreciates satans wind being called by her name.
cowboy from hell
PS: Spain being very Catholic, many counties of Spanish influence have cities and places named for saints, Santa is a female saint, San is a male saint.
San Francisco is Saint Francis, San Juan is Saint John, San Pedro is Saint Peter, San Jose is Saint Joseph, Santa Maria is Saint Mary, Santa Barbara is Saint Barbara, etc, etc
I doubt Saint Anne appreciates satans wind being called by her name.
cowboy from hell
PS: Spain being very Catholic, many counties of Spanish influence have cities and places named for saints, Santa is a female saint, San is a male saint.
San Francisco is Saint Francis, San Juan is Saint John, San Pedro is Saint Peter, San Jose is Saint Joseph, Santa Maria is Saint Mary, Santa Barbara is Saint Barbara, etc, etc
quote:Originally posted by Cowboy from Hell:
The mexicans call the desert wind satans wind, satan in Spanish is santanas. Slightly Anglicized, the word becomes santana. There is a city in Orange County named Santa Ana (Saint Anne). Its not unusual for the winds to be mistakenly called Santa Ana winds in the newspapers and on the news broadcasts.
I doubt Saint Anne appreciates satans wind being called by her name.
cowboy from hell
I have lived in Southern California for most of my 52 years and I did not know that. Heck, I was even born in Santa Ana! No brush fires in Long Beach.
Art
Look out! It's being blamed on global warming.
The size of the fires is definately larger in area then the last time.
I wondeer if I can convert my Pantera to bicycle power?
The size of the fires is definately larger in area then the last time.
I wondeer if I can convert my Pantera to bicycle power?
Global Warming? That's a strange name for an arsonist.
quote:Originally posted by Cowboy from Hell:
Global Warming? That's a strange name for an arsonist.
Yeah moden day parents are giving kids all sorts or weird names these days !!
Show me something that isn't blamed on global warming !
So Cal does have it's problems.
I never realized that the humidity was so low, i.e., less then 10%.
When the winds whip up they suck out whatever is left of the moisture.
Then it just takes one radical with a match to prove to everyone that the polar caps are melting and the polar bears have no where to go.
See, I don't understand, if everyones house looked like a birds nest, wouldn't it burn faster?
Anyway, glad you are alright and the manifold didn't melt.
I never realized that the humidity was so low, i.e., less then 10%.
When the winds whip up they suck out whatever is left of the moisture.
Then it just takes one radical with a match to prove to everyone that the polar caps are melting and the polar bears have no where to go.
See, I don't understand, if everyones house looked like a birds nest, wouldn't it burn faster?
Anyway, glad you are alright and the manifold didn't melt.
quote:Originally posted by Cowboy from Hell:
The mexicans call the desert wind satans wind, satan in Spanish is santanas. Slightly Anglicized, the word becomes santana. There is a city in Orange County named Santa Ana (Saint Anne). Its not unusual for the winds to be mistakenly called Santa Ana winds in the newspapers and on the news broadcasts.
I doubt Saint Anne appreciates satans wind being called by her name.
cowboy from hell
PS: Spain being very Catholic, many counties of Spanish influence have cities and places named for saints, Santa is a female saint, San is a male saint.
San Francisco is Saint Francis, San Juan is Saint John, San Pedro is Saint Peter, San Jose is Saint Joseph, Santa Maria is Saint Mary, Santa Barbara is Saint Barbara, etc, etc
Dang George. I wish I hadda knowd this years ago. I woulda never listened to his music had I known that. I bet that is where that term, satnic rock, came from. All these years I been listening to devil music and never knew it.