Hey RR and all the other folks in the SoCal Area:
Our thoughts and concerns are with everyone living in the chaparral and grass-covered hills and canyons of Southern California at this particular time.
My wife and I just returned today from Southern California, after having driven through many of the areas that are now afire on Saturday, the day before the Santa Ana winds picked up. I grew up with Santa Anas (winds that blow from inland high pressure desert areas towards the coast) in Orange County, but do not ever recall the kinds of damage and destruction that have accompanied this season's winds.
We were visiting my brother and his family in the Newport Beach region, and had just returned from a trip on his boat down to Laguna. It was an unusually clear, sunny day and there were no sign of fires, or even smoke on Sunday afternoon, 10/21, anywhere along the Orange County Coast. However, just after we returned and were getting his boat secured, this huge smoke cloud suddenly appeared almost directly overhead and began dropping ashes on everything in its path, including us. This cloud appeared from well inland and began covering the whole coastal area in just a matter of minutes--not days or even hours. It more resembled a huge Southern tornado cloud in its speed of movement and nearly complete sky coverage. Anyway, it's a nasty business all around, and we sure hope that the winds will begin tapering off over the next few days so the firefighters can begin to get a handle on halting the progress of these monsters.
Good luck and best wishes to all,
Dick
