Windy
Growing up in Wisconsin, wind was just a weather phenomenon, useful in summer to blow away mosquitos and allow for good kite flying. Summer winds often presaged an incoming storm. This acceptance of wind obtained as we moved around the country, until we arrived in California. Early on I remember such strong winds that our kids took great joy in leaning in to them without falling over. We were aware of a Southern California phenomenon called Santa Ana winds, usually in October, where the usual wind direction reversed and came from hot, dry, inland areas, and created fire danger. We didn’t worry, up here in the moist north.
Forward to 1991. The Oakland firestorm of 1991 was a large suburban wildland–urban interface conflagration that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California, and southeastern Berkeley over the weekend of October 19–20, 1991. The economic loss from the fire was estimated at $1.5 billion ($2.99 billion in 2023 dollars[2]).[1] This obviously focussed our fire awareness.
Then in 2017, winds of 90 MPH blew flames at high speed from Calistoga to Santa Rosa.
The Tubbs Fire was a wildfire in Northern California during October 2017. At the time, the Tubbs Fire was the most destructive wildfire in California history, burning parts of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, inflicting its greatest losses in the city of Santa Rosa. My report on this is still my most recommended diary.
The impetus for this diary was simply looking out on our patio and seeing a gust of wind sway the trees, and recalling how pleasurable that used to be. Our perception of that has forever changed.
Apologies; I couldn’t resist:
Or even better: