It can be, but I don’t think it’s the case here - we have Santa Anas with sustained 40mph winds and 100mph gusts in some areas, and that is without any fire. The wind is also caused by the air moving in from the inland deserts that is very dry (often <5% humidity) and hot as well due to compression heating.
There are reports that the Palisades Fire grew from 10 acres when it began to 200 acres in just 12 minutes, due to conditions like this.
Is this wind intensity caused by the fire?
It can be, but I don’t think it’s the case here - we have Santa Anas with sustained 40mph winds and 100mph gusts in some areas, and that is without any fire. The wind is also caused by the air moving in from the inland deserts that is very dry (often <5% humidity) and hot as well due to compression heating.
There are reports that the Palisades Fire grew from 10 acres when it began to 200 acres in just 12 minutes, due to conditions like this.
That’s between 8 and 10 on the Beaufort scale, holy mother of holy mothers!