Talk:Sundowner winds

Sundowner winds - Santa Ana winds article says they are not foehn winds

Before this article was edited on 10/29/15, it stated that sundowner winds are foehn winds. If any editor wishes to revert the "sundowner winds" article, would they please enter some citations for classifying sundowners as foehn winds, and also provide citations for linking the word etymologically to the Spanish or Argentinian term "Zonda"?

Comments:

The Wikipedia article on Santa Ana winds, which seems more meteorologically precise than the one on sundowner winds, states quite explicitly:

"Note that while the Santa Ana Winds are a katabatic wind, they are not a Föhn wind. A Föhn wind results from precipitation on the windward side of a mountain range which releases latent heat into the atmosphere which is then warmer on the leeward side (e.g., the Chinook or the original Föhn). The Santa Ana winds do not originate in precipitation, but in the bone-dry high deserts." .

The Wikipedia article on "Foehn wind" gives a long list of regional names for foehn winds, omitting from this list the sundowner and Santa Ana winds. At the end of the list, it states:

"The Santa Ana winds of southern California, including the Sundowner winds of Santa Barbara, are in some ways similar to the Föhn, but originate in dry deserts as a katabatic wind." .

To the best of my knowledge, sundowners occur in exactly the same way that Santa Ana winds occur. The name "sundowner" is simply very localized Santa Barbara-area English name for the wind phenomenom which occurs all along the west side of the California coast ranges, which is called "Santa Ana" wind in the areas south of Santa Barbara. While both sundowners and Santa Anas are downslope winds, as are foehn winds, the Wikipedia article on Santa Ana winds explains quite clearly that sundowners and Santa Anas do not meet other criteria for classification as foehn winds. Perhaps the writers of the Santa Ana winds and Foehn winds articles could clarify this further in their articles, or could expand and source the article on sundowner winds?

Regarding etymology, despite the fact that, at a stretch, the words "sundowner" & "zonda" sound somewhat similar, I am unaware of any etymological relationship between the English descriptor and the Argentinian meteorological term. Although it is true that the first 44 Spanish-speakers settled in Santa Barbara in 1782, 36 years before the first English-speaking settler in 1818, an English word used to describe a local weather phenomenom is not necessarily a corruption of a Spanish word

The English name "sundowner" is highly descriptive of the wind. Sundowners typically make themselves felt - often quite suddenly and forcefully - close to sundown, in the late afternoon and early evening. A tragic and very graphic example occurred in Santa Barbara on November 13, 2008. Some merry-makers had water-quenched a campfire in a wild area in the mountains above Santa Barbara at around 2 or 3 am that morning, and left the area thinking the fire was completely extinguished. However, 14 hours later a strong sundowner wind suddenly crested the nearby ridge-top and swept down the mountain-side. Within minutes, at 4:50 pm </ref>Wikipedia article on Tea Fire</ref>, the ash-covered but still-smoldering campfire embers, stirred to life by the wind, ignited a dramatic wildfire - the Santa Barbara Tea Fire . This fire blazed out of control for 5 days, with tragic consequences for many nearby residents. It burned 2000 acres and injured 13 people . After 100 surgeries each years later, community struggles to rebuild", by www.uphelp.org/Mike%20Bowker, published by United Policyholders at http://www.uphelp.org/news/toll-tea-fire-three-years-later-community-struggles-rebuild/2011-11-12 </ref>, one young couple barely survived horrific, life-altering burns sustained shortly after the blaze erupted, as they fled their fire-encircled home and were forced to run through burning chaparral to reach the vehicle which was their only means of escape. Over the succeeding 5 days, the densely-populated downtown area of Santa Barbara was spared at least once, if not several times, only by a change in wind direction at a critical moment. Hundreds of residents were evacuated for days. 220 homes were destroyed. Hundreds of people spent months and even years in alternate accommodation while their homes were rebuilt or repaired. After 3 years only a quarter of the burned homes in the County were rebuilt. . Many burned-out residents were never able to rebuild.

Nubelibra (talk) 02:00, 30 October 2015 (UTC)

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