Santa Ana Winds

Forecasters predict brisk Santa Ana winds this Christmas, bringing with them an increased risk of wildfires, officials said. Wind speeds of 20-to-30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph are expected until 8 p.m. today, National Weather Service forecasters said. Also, a high tide of 7.5 feet may bring coastal flooding to some areas of Newport Beach. “The higher winds are supposed to be more out in the mountains and passes,” said National Weather Service forecaster Jennifer Chase.

Deepa Bharath Santa Ana winds were largely responsible for the unseasonable balmy weather Friday. The warm northeastern winds will continue through the early part of today, said Noel Isla, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in San Diego. Temperatures will range from the mid-70s along the coast to the mid-80s in Costa Mesa. It is likely to get more blustery in the passes and canyons, he said. A wind advisory will stay in effect until 2 p.m. today, he said.

Three teams ended the first day of competition tied for the lead in the Pacific Life Yacht Club Challenge Match Race Series held off Newport Pier. Defending champion St. Francis Yacht Club out of San Francisco, Southern Yacht Club from New Orleans and Houston Yacht Club all posted three wins out of four possible round-robin matches Thursday in shifting winds. Newport Harbor and Balboa, led by skippers Jon Pinckney and Carson Reynolds, respectively, each won twice.

Deepa Bharath and Jennifer Kho COSTA MESA -- Metallic balloons caught in power lines Thursday morning left 3,962 homes and businesses without power for about half an hour, officials said. The brisk Santa Ana winds blew the balloons, causing them to become tangled in the lines at Canyon Drive, north of Banning Avenue, said Paul Klein, spokesman for Southern California Edison. The outage that began at 9 a.m. lasted between 20 and 30 minutes in most areas, he said.

The abrupt appearance of Santa Ana winds early Sunday kept firefighters in the Newport-Mesa area busy. One Corona del Mar home narrowly escaped getting engulfed in flames Sunday morning after a power line loosened by the intense Santa Ana winds set the wood shake roof of the residence ablaze, firefighters said. A greater and imminent disaster was averted through the quick actions of Newport Beach Fire Capt. Jerry Strom, who arrived after receiving a call about loose power lines.

Deepa Bharath NEWPORT-MESA -- Gusty Santa Ana winds Friday felled trees, caused a few power outages and set off burglar alarms, officials said. In Costa Mesa, the city maintenance crew was kept busy all day attending to fallen trees and branches on streets and parks. Past noon Friday, workers were clearing out a fallen tree in TeWinkle Park. That tree succumbed to the wind because it was already weakened by termites, said Jack Pittman, a city parks maintenance worker.

Newport-Mesa firefighters who spent five days battling blazes in Los Angeles County returned home Sunday, but dry, hot winds predicted for the region this week could raise the risk of more wildfires. Eight firefighters from Newport-Mesa were dispatched to the Topanga fire late Wednesday as part of a five-engine strike team. They were transferred to the Burbank fire Saturday. With the fires in Los Angeles County mostly contained, the Newport-Mesa strike team members are back.

Clouds and rain rolling through Orange County on Thursday evening have already passed their peak, according to the National Weather Service. Today the Newport-Mesa region should expect scattered showers and possibly thunderstorms but no sustained heavy rainfall, agency forecaster Steve Vanderburg said. "What you're getting [Thursday evening] is the actual front," he said. "After that, it's on-and-off-again showers. It doesn't look like this is going to be a big storm as far as rainfall amounts."

Deepa Bharath It was not the kind of day to throw caution to the wind. Local fire officials were on high alert Tuesday, the last day of summer, after Santa Ana winds ripped through the area. The winds that set in early morning later picked up speed, especially in Orange County's passes and canyons, reaching up to 30 mph in some areas, said Robert Balfour, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in San Diego. In Newport Beach, winds reached speeds of 15 mph through Tuesday afternoon, he said.

It has been exactly two months since I started training for the Orange County Marathon, scheduled for Jan. 8. To date, I have logged more than 170 miles. That is like running to Palm Springs and back. Until last week, the majority of my runs have been in the early morning. This last week, my wife was out of town, so I needed to juggle my schedule to get the kids off to school each day. To keep on track with the Cal Coast Track Club marathon training program, my only choice was to run during the week after work.

NEWPORT BEACH — Geoff Cochrane's golf ball was easy to identify Tuesday at the 12th annual Jones Cup. Cochrane, the Santa Ana Country Club head professional, played with a neon yellow ball made by Trixon. It may look like a ball someone would use while playing miniature golf, but Cochrane is a convert. "It's something unique," he said. "I feel like I see it really good, putting in particular, as strange as that sounds. I'm not sure if I'll ever go back to white, as long as they keep making it. " The goal in recent years has been to make Santa Ana stand out too, considering it is the only one of the four local private clubs never to have won the annual tournament.

The opening day of St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa in 1959 was a blustery affair. “On the first day of school, we had the Santa Ana winds,” said Irish-born Sister Annunciata, who began teaching at the school when it opened. She described the winds as a “whirlwind” that left everything brown. Since then, the school has developed into a thriving, faith-centered community that is now serving its third generation of students. The school celebrated its Golden Jubilee this week with Masses and other special events.

A brush fire in Bonita Canyon scorched about 35 acres Monday as Newport Beach and Costa Mesa firefighters battled for nearly two hours to contain the blaze. Three helicopters, dipping into the conveniently close San Joaquin Reservoir, helped douse the blaze, which started about 3:30 p.m., while firefighters from several cities raced to the canyon as Santa Ana winds powered the flames up the hillside. Authorities contained the blaze about 5:15 p.m. with small spot fires that are expected to be extinguished overnight.

Forecasters predict more Santa Ana winds to ring in the New Year, bringing with them a slight risk of wildfires, officials said. A fire weather watch remains in effect through Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. A high pressure system making its way across Nevada into Southern California is expected to cause strong gusty winds for most of Orange County. The dry north-easterly winds will also drop humidity levels, officials said. Winds are predicted to hit between 10-to-20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph through today, National Weather Service forecasters said.

Forecasters predict brisk Santa Ana winds this Christmas, bringing with them an increased risk of wildfires, officials said. Wind speeds of 20-to-30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph are expected until 8 p.m. today, National Weather Service forecasters said. Also, a high tide of 7.5 feet may bring coastal flooding to some areas of Newport Beach. “The higher winds are supposed to be more out in the mountains and passes,” said National Weather Service forecaster Jennifer Chase.

The acrid stench of smoke and the sight of snowing ash replaced the scents of ocean air and the salt water spray at Corona del Mar’s main beach Monday. No one manned the guard gate at the parking lot entrance, and the beach was largely deserted, but some people, unfazed by the imminent fire danger and unhealthy air, went about their business. Leslie Edson, who lives across from the beach on Breakers Drive, walked her two dogs. She spent the morning cleaning black ash from her yard, and said there were “big size chunks of it,” besides the small pieces she could see floating to the sidewalk.

The abrupt appearance of Santa Ana winds early Sunday kept firefighters in the Newport-Mesa area busy. One Corona del Mar home narrowly escaped getting engulfed in flames Sunday morning after a power line loosened by the intense Santa Ana winds set the wood shake roof of the residence ablaze, firefighters said. A greater and imminent disaster was averted through the quick actions of Newport Beach Fire Capt. Jerry Strom, who arrived after receiving a call about loose power lines.

Clouds and rain rolling through Orange County on Thursday evening have already passed their peak, according to the National Weather Service. Today the Newport-Mesa region should expect scattered showers and possibly thunderstorms but no sustained heavy rainfall, agency forecaster Steve Vanderburg said. "What you're getting [Thursday evening] is the actual front," he said. "After that, it's on-and-off-again showers. It doesn't look like this is going to be a big storm as far as rainfall amounts."

Ahoy. We are experiencing great winter weather, and this weekend will be good with partly cloudy skies. The ocean conditions are typical for this time of year, but the Santa Ana winds with their offshore direction have been helping to keep the near-shore seas flat. Lately, it seems that the winds will never leave, and I am receiving a flood of e-mails inquiring why the recent Santa Ana winds were cold and not hot, plus what is the wind's true name. Let's start with the name.

High, gusty winds battered inland areas of Orange County on Wednesday, as unusually high pressure in the deserts of California and Nevada forced wind through the Santa Ana Mountains and toward the coast. Gusts in some inland canyon areas reached 70 mph, though in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, winds stayed a milder 20 to 30 mph. Though the wind blew weaker on the coast, it was strong enough in Corona del Mar to knock a 50-foot tree into a house on Larkspur Avenue, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Fire Department said.