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A sundowner is a northerly offshore wind in
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
along the southern Pacific slope of Santa Ynez Mountains, in communities along the Gaviota Coast and Santa Barbara towards but not including
Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...
.


Formation

It occurs when a region of high pressure is directly north of the area, the coast of which trends east–west. This contrasts with the more typical onshore flow. The winds blow with greatest force when the pressure gradient is perpendicular to the axis of the Santa Ynez Mountains, which rise directly behind Santa Barbara. These winds often precede Santa Ana events by a day or two, but also as tail end of Santa Anas after they weaken, it is normal for high-pressure areas to migrate east, causing the pressure gradients to shift to the northeast. Aptly named sundowners are typically nighttime events that terminate after sunrise, they may repeat for days, while Santa Anas are multi-day long events. Weaker sundowner effects may occur without an associated Santa Ana event, at times due to a Diablo wind event (Northern California), akin to a
foehn A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of ...
wind.


Fire dangers

Sundowners are particularly dangerous during
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
season because the air heats and dries as it descends from the mountains to the sea. Gale force hot, dry winds can make firefighting impossible. A sundowner quickly burned a swath from the mountains through populated areas and across
Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drum ...
into Hope Ranch during the 1990 Painted Cave Fire. The most intense periods of the Jesusita Fire's destruction have also been blamed on sundowner winds. The Sherpa Fire grew to overnight due to the sundowner winds, destroying the water system for El Capitán State Beach at the beginning of the 2016 fire season.


Origin

The etymology of the word ''sundowner'' is uncertain, but it may derive from the Spanish term '' zonda,'' or from the
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
'' simoom'', which are both similar wind phenomena. It is also typically the case that sundowner winds commence in the evening near sunset, when onshore sea breezes abate and offshore flows such as the sundowners pick up.


See also

*
List of local winds This is a list of names given to winds local to specific regions. Africa *Berg wind, a seasonal katabatic wind blowing down the Great Escarpment from the high central plateau to the coast in South Africa. *Cape Doctor, often persistent and dry sou ...
* Santa Barbara County Fire Department *
Foehn wind A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of ...


References

Winds Climate of California Natural history of Santa Barbara County, California Santa Ynez Mountains Santa Barbara, California Weather events in the United States {{climate-stub