Oddity for our Californio brethren

[Oregon Bill]

Whilst reading a book on the exploration of the Nile tributaries in 1861, I encountered the Arab word "simoom." Further investigation led by chance to this fascinating tidbit, that might be woven into a Californian's impression:

The only ever recorded simoom wind in North America occurred on June 17th 1859 in Goleta, California and Santa Barbara, California. In the morning the temperature hovered around the normal 24°C(75°F) to 27°C(80°F), but around 1pm strong super hot winds filled with dust began to blow from the direction of the Santa Ynez Mountains to the north. By 2pm the temperature reached 56°C(133°F). This temperature, as luck would have it, was recorded by an official US coastal survey vessel that was operating in the waters just offshore, in the Santa Barbara Channel. At 5pm the temperature had reduced to 50°C(122°F) and by 7pm the temperature was back to a normal 25°C(77°F). The US government report stated "Calves, rabbits and cattle died on their feet. Fruit fell from trees to the ground scorched on the windward side; all vegetable gardens were ruined. A fisherman in a rowboat made it to the Goleta Sandspit with his face and arms blistered as if he had been exposed to a blast furnace."[2]

Luckily local inhabitants were saved from the heat by seeking shelter in the thick adobe walled houses that were the standard construction at the time.

This remained the highest ever recorded temperature in the United States for 75 years until the U.S. Weather Bureau recorded a temperature of 56.6°C(134°F) in Death Valley, California.

Although this event is considered a Simoom, due to the unusually long time for which the temperature remained extremely high, coupled with the fact that it was in part generated due to hot air passing over the top of the mountain ridge from the normally much hotter, drier interior valley and becoming super heated as it descended to the higher pressures found at sea level, it may not entirely fit into the definition of a Saharan Simoom.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Santa Ana;   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds

When I was in Cyprus in March of 1972 we got a wind storm right out of the Sahara, 2 - 300 miles away.