High Wind — Santa Barbara County South Coast, California

2007-10-20 · Santa Barbara County South Coast, California

Event narrative

The Montecito Hills RAWS sensor reported north winds gusting to 67 mph.

Wider weather episode

Between October 20th and 24th, strong surface high pressure developed over the Great Basin and produced a strong and long-lasting Santa Ana wind event across Southern California. This particular Santa Ana wind event was the strongest and most widespread in recent memory with peak wind gusts over 100 mph reported at Laguna Peak and Whitaker Peak. The offshore winds produced very warm and dry conditions across Southern California which led to 9 different wildfires across Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Four of the wildfires exceeded 700 acres with one fire burning nearly 60,000 acres.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 60689. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.