"Great Basin Geology" (click here) It is a highly seismic area.
October 28, 2019
By Doyle Rice
Just as southern California (click here) has its notorious Santa Ana winds, northern California's most infamous winds are known as "Diablo" winds. These are the winds that are fueling the Kincade Fire, now raging in California's wine country.
But what are they?
Like Santa Ana winds, Diablo winds originate hundreds of miles inland in the desert regions of the Great Basin, according to the Los Angeles Times. There, circulation of air around a strong area of surface high atmospheric pressure flows over the Sierra Nevada, heading toward lower pressure at sea level.
The resulting flow from high pressure inland to lower pressure off the California coast is warmed and dried by compressional heating as the air sinks from the Great Basin, which is 4,000 to 5,000 feet in elevation, down to sea level, according to meteorologist Jan Null of Golden Gate Weather Services....
