Santa Ana

A desert wind from the northeast, dry and very warm, superheated by the foehn effect, that blows in the south of the state of California (USA) and the northernmost part of the state of Baja California (Mexico) between the months of October and March, reaching its peak during the month of December. It owes its name to the fact that it strikes directly into the valley of the Santa Ana River, where it reaches great intensity. This wind is caused by the overflow of the air mass that accumulates in the Great Basin (a vast plain located between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada), due to the dominance of high pressure across that vast expanse of US territory during the aforementioned time of year.