Ask her.

There is no controlling them. And they are VERY dry too. Add the fact that fire creates more unpredictable winds and it makes everything more dangerous.

Use a Sharpie.

(wink)

I'm just thinking that these winds might be able to be harnessed for good instead of destruction.

Again - think out of the box.

Brainstorming session!!!

Your query was legitimate even if there's nothing we can do about the weather.

I was trying to be funny and make a snarky comment about Trump, not you, amigo!

Peace and enjoy your evening.

like I said - I'd probably be laughed at or take on some 'snarky' comments.

I'm from the generation that put a man on the moon. I just think if we can do that - we can come up with some way to work with the Santa Ana winds.

I can see where people might put this on par with wanting to buy Greenland or rename the Gulf of Mexico!!!

I just figured that if Tr**p could get away with making such suggestions and that there are actually people out there that agree with him or back those up with some justification - I'd take a shot and see what kind of agreement or justification I'd get.

If no justification - at least I asked the question.

I just can't imagine how it feels to lose all your lives possessions.

I feel for those people and just thought maybe somebody out there could be really creative.

They are usually fairly predictable.

However, the winds can't be used to fight or prevent fires.

Last edited Thu Jan 9, 2025, 09:36 PM - Edit history (1)

It is a completely futile effort.

It would be similar with the Santa Ana's. Nothing can be done to alter or mitigate a river of air many times the volume of the Nile or Mississippi Rivers. They will stop blowing when they stop blowing.

maybe somebody can get a good deal farther out of the box than myself ...

Fire - 50 mph winds .... Furnace.

They will serve to dampen the wind and provide power for water pumping.

Well, that's what I would suggest to Trump anyhow...

Thanks for that contribution.

Now we just need to build on that and be even more creative.

- Giant turbines that can maybe handle the force of the winds - dampen them - and transform them into useful energy for positive outcomes?

- Some sort of windshields in the mountains in this area where these winds occur?

- Working with pressure gradients to minimize their force?

????????????

Such a thing would have to be done on an immense scale and at immense cost. Even then I doubt it would be even theoretically plausible as the turbines would not only have to be extremely tall, large and numerous but built to not only survive such strong winds but to remain operating to have any effect.

I expect it would be much more cost effective and practical to put the effort towards fire resistant buildings, infrastructure and fire fighting equipment. And, of course, climate change reduction measures.

Hey, here's an even wilder idea. In v strong winds power the turbines to generate wind in the opposite direction.

And now I want to see if there are wind farms in the Mojave Desert, where they originate. So thanks for making me think of that.

However, when I lived in Santa Monica for many years, it was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Everyone would be in a very bad mood from the first gusts. It was so incredibly, parchingly dry. I remember the feeling of my long hair being whipped around by the gusts and hitting my face and neck.

Many of my friends would go down to the beach and just sleep on the sand because there was no relief. This was when we didn't have air conditioning because with the ocean breezes, who needed it?

Probably in very bad taste tho.

and change direction on a dime. Just watching the local news in San Diego they showed the directions of the winds expected over the next 4 days. The directional arrows were all over the place (north, west, south, etc).. The winds change directions and are very unpredictable. I wish we could harness their power or at least "work with it for a positive outcome" but that is pie in the sky thinking.

Santa Ana has been blowing for 1000's of years.

the native flora evolved to cope with periodic fires - some plant species need occasional fire for their seeds to germinate. Pre-contact Californians would sometimes set controlled fires to encourage the plants they wanted and discourage the ones they didn't.

The problem with these winds is that they're incredibly strong and dry, as well as seasonal. I know windmills can be built to withstand "normal" wind conditions (there's a big wind farm at Altamont Pass) but building them to withstand 70-90 mph winds coming from a number of directions is a bigger engineering project - and AFAIK the Santa Anas are seasonal.