# Santa Ana Winds Vs. Santana Winds ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santa-ana-winds-vs-santana-winds/57490 "2001-03-11T00:44:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ESVRW2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@ESVRW2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ESVRW2)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santa-ana-winds-vs-santana-winds/57490/1 "2001-03-11T00:44:10Z")
A local morning radio show here in San Diego recently had a big debate among it’s cast as too the proper terminology for the hot dry winds that blow thru Southern California. This debate was led on one side by those that say the proper term is “Santa Ana Winds” and the other side saying that they are the “Santana Winds” and that Santa Ana was just a bastardization of Santana and that Santa Ana had been used so frequently that people started using that term. PLEASE SOLVE THIS ONE FOR ME? The radio show (Dave, Shelly, & Chainsaw on 101.5 KGB) left evrybody hanging with each side clinging to their own beliefs and refusing to acknowledge the other side… ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santa-ana-winds-vs-santana-winds/57490/2 "2001-03-11T01:44:17Z")
From [http://www.kfwb.com/news/local/santaana.html:](http://www.kfwb.com/news/local/santaana.html:) > [@](#): > > **Santa Ana winds are named after the city of Santa Ana, southeast of Los Angeles.** These winds are quite common during the autumn and result from air moving across the Mojave Desert and then over and through passes in the San Gabriel, San Bernadino and San Jacinto Mountains. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santa-ana-winds-vs-santana-winds/57490/3 "2001-03-11T02:50:11Z")
Unless, of course, the winds are particularly smooth. Then they’re Santana winds. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santa-ana-winds-vs-santana-winds/57490/4 "2001-03-11T07:01:58Z")
Since you can only get “Santa Ana” winds near Santa Ana, California, I think the two word spelling makes sense. I.e., other winds similar to the Santa Ana are the Foens or the Chinooks or one of the other countless names given by people to warm, dry winds that blow down from the mountains to a basin. There are no “smooth” Santa Anas. But they are good at sucking all the moisture out of your skin. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santa-ana-winds-vs-santana-winds/57490/5 "2001-03-11T07:13:18Z")
No, no, the smooth winds are the “Robthomas” winds. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santa-ana-winds-vs-santana-winds/57490/6 "2001-03-11T14:59:19Z")
Some information about föhn winds (which, if I recall correctly, get all hot because of what is called adiabatic warming), go to the site [Encyclopedia Brittanica](http://www.britannica.com) and look up “foehn”. Santa Ana winds, ghibli winds, zonda winds and chinook winds are all local variants of the same thing. More generalized information about local wind systems can be found [here](http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,109110+8+106248,00.html).