There was a significant wind event in Los Angeles County today, but, it wasn't Santa Ana winds.

Los Angeles County (click title to entry - thank you) has declared a state of emergency because of the Santa Ana windstorm.

Santa Ana Winds are offshore winds, these winds weren't offshore.  It was a forming vortex over Southern California.  Is every wind event in California Santa Ana Winds?  That is silly.  If I may?

Michael D. Antonovich, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, made the declaration Thursday afternoon after Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Temple City, San Marino and Glendora declared their own emergencies.

The foothill cities in the northern San Gabriel Valley were hit hardest by the windstorm, as winds from the north knocked over utility poles and century-old trees....

Santa Ana winds occur when air moves offshore at speeds up to 50 mph.  These were not offshore winds.  The reason the Santa Ana winds are so high in velocity is because there is nothing standing in their way.  They are blowing into an open ocean. Below is a photograph by NASA of Santa Ana winds from 2002, I think.  I mean what is this mess, it's Christmas season so it must be Santa Ana?  Silly.

On January 6, 2002, (click here) Santa Ana winds blew dust from interior deserts and other dry areas out over California and the Pacific Ocean. This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Aqua satellite shows streamers of dust blowing southwestward over the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which is roughly centered in the top half of the image....

Below is a UNISYS satellite that clearly illustrates wind blowing from southwest USA toward the northwest while forming a vortex over Southern California.




December 1, 2011
2130.16z
UNISYS Visual GOES West Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

Those are not not offshore winds.  They don't remotely compare to sincere Santa Ana winds.  This is a hemispheric event. 

The continental winds are best seen on a USA satellite below.  This is a satellite from 12 hours ago.

December 1, 2011
1230.13z
UNISYS infrared USA Satellite

The satellite below is the current satellite.

December 2, 2011
0030.25z
UNISYS Infrared USA Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

There is a sharp contract in air movement in 12 hours.  The air mass is moving from southwest to northwest.

Where it gets really interesting is when the 12 hour loop is noted.  There is some air moving offshore over the Baha as the nortwest North American continent is receiving a huge blast of arctic air, currently over western Canada and heading south.  It looks like a nasty arctic air mass, too.  But, the wind event is not NORMAL Santa Ana winds, it is a hemispheric wind event connected with the continued turbulance of the arctic air mass.

To the right is a color analysis by NASA of Santa Ana winds from 2003.  Today's event just doesn't fit the parameters.  Sorry.  As far as I am concerned, stating it isn't a Santa Ana wind is not even splitting hairs.  \

...“These strong winds, (click here) which blow from the land out into the ocean, cause cold water to rise from the bottom of the ocean to the top, bringing with it many nutrients that ultimately benefit local fisheries,” said Dr. Timothy Liu, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and QuikSCAT project scientist....

There are biological components to Santa Ana winds as well.  Either they are or they ain't; there is no in between.

The wind event was misinterpreted as is the case in so many climate events of Earth under a Climate Crisis troposphere.  Just because the event 'seems like' the real thing, doesn't mean it is.  A major part of the problem is that the language of climatology is limited to 'normal climate' terms and simply doesn't have the language to state what these events actually are.

Santa Ana winds are a form of katabatic winds that sweep down from high elevations to the ocean.  That is not what is occurring here.  When sand and dust are carried from the desert to the oceans it contains all kinds of minerals and debris that interprets into nutrients.  This is not occurring with this event.  The winds did not originate from dry areas or from high elevations.

#Occupy Boston receives stay on eviction. There can be justice, let's hope it continues.

I see no reason why police cannot patrol through the encampment. I would think that would be welcome. Perhaps a team of police together. Public safety applies to everyone. If the protesters can respect police patrols without being threatened their rights aren't violated and they'll lose their protest site, I think police patrols would be a good idea.

I don't pretend to speak for anyone, but, I am confident #Occupy doesn't place itself above the law, so much seeks to exercise it.  i am quite sure the residents of the protest site would welcome safety without intimidation if that is possible.  I can't imagine why the two entities could not co-exist if safety is the true goal of the Mayor and his police department.

Occupy Boston encampment in downtown Boston is safe -- at least for now (click title of entry for video - thank you)
...Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frances A. McIntyre said today she would decide no later than Dec. 15 whether Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s administration will be permanently barred from forcibly shutting down the Dewey Square encampment without prior court approval.

After a lengthy hearing in which both the city and Occupy protesters battled over the conditions and meaning of the tent city, McIntyre extended the temporary restraining order she had issued against the city last month.

Two witnesses testified during the hearing, one for each side.

For the city, Boston Fire Marshal Bart Shea testified that the tents used by protesters have created a fire hazard that poses an immediate threat to the protesters and to the general public traveling through that neighborhood.

“I was appalled at what I saw, and to me it appears to be a chaotic scene,’’ he testified.
“A fire could rip right across the top of these tents before someone could get out.’’
Appearing for Occupy Boston, Kristopher Eric Martin testified that by setting up camp two months ago in Dewey Square, protesters were sending a message to workers in the Financial District office buildings that surround the encampment.

“We are providing an example to all those who come through here on how to have a better society,’’ he testified.

McIntyre quizzed witnesses about details of the camp -- whether it was handicapped-accessible, for example -- but did not inquire into the philosophical issues raised by the takeover of the public land by residents of a tent city....