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Old 12-07-2017, 10:29 AM   #1
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SoCalif Winds

For those of you who have been waiting out the east winds (SantaAna's) in portions of Southern California to subside after the usual 3 days so you could use US-101 or I-5 north of L.A.; bad news. There is a wind advisory through tomorrow, Friday, for more high winds in Ventura County.
This also means that the Thomas Fire and other smaller ones, could erupt uncontrollably once again.
Don't plan on traversing Ventura County, or the south half of Santa Barbara Counties through the weekend. That would be primarily US-101, but also affects I-5. US-101 south of Casitas Pass Road in Carpinteria is in a mandatory evacuation zone as of 0821 hrs this AM.

The fire: Please pray for those affected. There are hundreds of people, primarily in Santa Paula and Ventura with either no home left, or with no power, so no place to live.
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Old 12-07-2017, 11:28 AM   #2
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I've been thinking of everyone affected by the fires, whether I know who they are or not. A few months ago I went from Redding CA over to the coast and went through a town that a wildfire had hit a few weeks earlier. Lots of burned out buildings and destroyed vehicles. It was very sobering to see.
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Old 12-07-2017, 11:37 AM   #3
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Thanks for your report Don. Like many I have family and friends living in Southern California.
Brushfires, Forest Fires and other unpredictable natural disasters affect us all at one time or another. I was in SW Kansas last summer where 500,000 acres had burned in March. Sobering indeed. Stay safe.
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Old 12-07-2017, 11:59 AM   #4
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Thoughts for lessening winds, and safety for all those in the path of the fires.
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Old 12-07-2017, 12:07 PM   #5
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When I was stationed at Alameda NAS in 1960's I remember the yearly burn/mud slide cycle. Yet it seems to continue 50 years later? Unfortunate but I'm surprised there has not been any improvement. I pray for the safety of those impacted and some wisdom to help future owners to be out of harms way.
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Old 12-07-2017, 12:53 PM   #6
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............ but I'm surprised there has not been any improvement. ......
The has indeed been much improvement. Ventura County Fire Has been at the forefront of requiring "defensible space", which means fire-resistive construction and non-combustible exterior finishes, double pane windows, brush clearance 200 feet from structures, etc. The last major fire in this county resulted in only accessory structure losses.
The problem with the Thomas Fire is the wind velocity with extreme gusts. Large embers are propelled over 2 miles, setting spot fires which in turn release embers. the fire started in Santa Paula Canyon on Dec. 4 at about 6:30 PM, and worked its way west through rugged mountain and canyon areas with thick brush; temperatures develop to well over 1000°. At 9:30 PM virtually all of Ventura County lost power due to high voltage power distribution lines damaged, 15 miles west of the starting point. We went outside at that point, and the whole northern sky was bright red.
By morning the hillsides of Ventura 20 miles west had been hit hard. I looked at aerial video of a home burning right across Foothill Road from a friend's house, and the owner had indeed done his brush clearance, but lost it anyway. The radiated heat can so intense as to break windows, then whatever is inside immediately is lit.

Edit: I just went outside, and looked north. The winds have picked up and are more intense than the other night. As a result, there is heavy smoke arising from those same canyons that burned 2½ days ago. There is that much fuel available in wildland areas.
Also, soil moisture levels have been abnormally low for the last three years due to drought conditions, and we've had east winds for quite a while. These east winds are from the desert, and so, are very dry. Our relative humidity right now is 15% @ 74°F. Dew point is in the 20°'s. So any plant life is tinder dry.

( Edit #2: Sorry about the long-winded response. Just retired from Oxnard Fire Dept. Engineering last year. )
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Old 12-07-2017, 01:30 PM   #7
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No apology required. Very informative post.

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Old 12-07-2017, 02:07 PM   #8
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Thank you for the informative post. Stay safe!
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Old 12-07-2017, 02:11 PM   #9
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How far up the coast does the smoke spread. Is air quality affected in Oregon or can it be? Serious matter.
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Old 12-07-2017, 09:33 PM   #10
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You are right, the smoke is toxic. We took in 5 refugees today from Ojai and one almost went to the hospital from smoke inhalation at 4 AM at the first home they evacuated to in Carpinteria. Their homes survived, however the smoke is just too terrible right now.

Edit: we had a small amount this morning that cleared up; we are 135 miles north.
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Old 12-07-2017, 11:30 PM   #11
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How far up the coast does the smoke spread. Is air quality affected in Oregon or can it be? Serious matter.
Detectable smoke extends up the coast less than 200 miles.Visible smoke extends out to sea for 300+ miles currently, due to the extremely strong east winds.
(Next week it probably will be blown back onto us, ...again.

Oregon: all OK; 600 miles away.

NASA view in link. Note also how rugged the terrain is.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/f...ain/index.html
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Old 12-08-2017, 10:20 AM   #12
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Almost lost my trailer last night in the fires.

We live in Southern California. We have a 21 on order that we will pick up in May. We currently have a Lance 1575 trailer. We plan on keeping our Lance until April so we can continue to camp while we wait for our Escape 21. Those plans almost changed yesterday. We store our trailer about a mile from our house at a friends place who lives on 3 acres. One of the many fires burning in So Cal swept through his neighborhood burning many houses. The fire burned through part of my friends property before an air tanker dropped a load of fire retardant on the flames saving his house and my trailer. I would have been really bummed if my friend lost his house or if my Lance would have burned up. If it would have been our new Escape 21 parked at my friends house I would have been a basket case.
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Old 12-10-2017, 03:22 PM   #13
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Dec. 10 update:
The east winds are back in full force today, with off & on heavy smoke along US-101 at and south of Carpinteria, at the Ventura/Santa Barbara County line.
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Old 12-10-2017, 04:25 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by dfandrews View Post
Dec. 10 update:
The east winds are back in full force today, with off & on heavy smoke along US-101 at and south of Carpinteria, at the Ventura/Santa Barbara County line.
Winds were calm this morning . They came back and no blue sky's here . Hope I can go to government building on Monday ? Taxes . Pat
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Old 12-10-2017, 05:13 PM   #15
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Woke up and thought a fire was near us it was that dark, however was drift smoke from the Thomas fire.
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Old 12-10-2017, 05:22 PM   #16
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Woke up and thought a fire was near us it was that dark, however was drift smoke from the Thomas fire.
Ross that is what we see every day around us . Right now the winds are strong . Sometimes you will see the sky get real black going North . Pat
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Old 12-10-2017, 05:30 PM   #17
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Ross that is what we see every day around us . Right now the winds are strong . Sometimes you will see the sky get real black going North . Pat
Pat,
A large plume has developed NW of us since the winds came back up. It appears to be in the area between Ojai and Carpinteria. You can most likely see it from where you are, as well. Looks to be 10,000 ft. high or more.
Ross, you may be getting more bad air and smoke due to it. It's headed your way.
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Old 12-10-2017, 05:44 PM   #18
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Am thinking of hitching up and skeedaddling! Just not sure where....
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Old 12-10-2017, 05:50 PM   #19
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Am thinking of hitching up and skeedaddling! Just not sure where....
The only clear air is in the Owens Valley north of Lone Pine. Maybe it's time to catch a bunch of the trout that got stocked late this year.
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Old 12-10-2017, 06:03 PM   #20
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Pat,
A large plume has developed NW of us since the winds came back up. It appears to be in the area between Ojai and Carpinteria. You can most likely see it from where you are, as well. Looks to be 10,000 ft. high or more.
Ross, you may be getting more bad air and smoke due to it. It's headed your way.
Don it seems to be calming down and clearing up then the strong winds come back . Then yes can see from our driveway the dark plume of smoke over in the Santa Paula , Ojai area. . I think we are fine now though . A bigger worry for us was the Reye fire but they have that under control . Nothing like being in between . Glad we weren't at the beach this time . Going to try to get to a government building tomorrow though . Pat
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