From: Don Bowen KI6DIU <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Homestead] Southern California fires
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:55:34 -0700
At 10/22/2007, you wrote:
It seems to me that Southern California always has problems...mudslides,
fires, windstorms, earthquakes, lack of local water supplies, smog, etc.
ad nauseum. People want to live there though..go figure that on
It is all in the weather.
Rains come in the winters with very little the rest of the year. Fall high
pressure zones set up the winter weather pattern but create winds that blow
from the desert thought canyons. Friction causes the winds to heat up in
what are called Santa Ana winds. Dry hot desert air blowing against summer
dry foliage creates prime conditions for fire. Before modern development
lightning caused fires so the plant community became fire adopted. Fall
fires would lay bare the ground and winter rains would cause mud
slides. Around and around it would go.
Along comes modern development with exotic eucalyptus trees that are
essentially candles, power lines that sway in the wind and spark, pinheads
who smoke and throw ashes out the window, and sub humans who like to set
fires just for the fun of it.
Lack of water supplies is caused by too many humans all wanting to live in
the weather and smog by all those humans wanting to live outside the
smog. Get rid of the people and you still have winds, fires, mudslides,
earthquakes.
The rest of the country has floods, tornados, hurricanes, blizzards. About
all you can do is be prepared. How is your go-bag?