Talk:Diablo wind

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[edit] Cause

I see a reference added that states the cause as "strong high pressure" over Nevada, downsloping, etc. I have left this even though it is an oversimplified explanation and is partly redundant to the passage which follows it. I took some meteorology classes years ago in which it was explained that the local "Santa Ana" was actually not just a phenomenom of a strong offshore pressure gradient and downsloping, but also, of strongly sinking air from aloft produced by the outflow from storms to the north of California. In fact, an offshore pressure gradient often exists without the Diablo developing unless there is the added ingredient of significant upper level subsidence. I cannot find an online source for this presently, so I will leave the current edit for the time being. Tmangray 16:23, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

The key difference between the "Diablo" and the Santa Ana is that the true Santa Ana is primarily a drainage wind when cool or even cold air from the high deserts flows downward toward the coast, being mainly channeled through canyons like a river flow. This cannot happen in Northern California because the Sierras block surface air from the high deserts. Our version of offshore winds actually come from the upper atmosphere, and as they descend, they are first noted not in canyons, but on the higher peaks such as Mount Diablo. Once they descend further, they can be enhanced by channeling in coastal canyons, but they are often just as strong or even stronger along the ridgelines. Tmangray (talk) 04:11, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of the Diablo wind term

Okay, we have a source suggesting that in 1923, 'Santa Ana wind' was the one and only term in use. I know it's hard to find sources for these kinds of things, but I feel that it would help if we can find a source suggesting that "Diablo wind" wasn't in use between 1923 and 1991. -Gordeonbleu 05:58, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Good luck. It appears that the first use was by a local TV "weathercaster" in 1991 with sensationalist tendencies. The Weather Channel's glossary is merely copying media material from that event (the Oakland fire). Growing up in the Bay Area, I never heard the term, although I heard "Santa Ana" employed, erroneously of course, many times. Tmangray 15:37, 22 October 2006 (UTC)