Southern California is facing fierce fires fueled by the Santa Ana winds, which threaten homes and put firefighters to the test.

“Anything can happen” during a Santa Ana event, Raymond Chandler wrote in his 1938 short story Red Wind. Chandler’s bailiwick was the crime genre, and the Santa Ana winds were an augur of physical danger, a kind of toxin that poisoned otherwise rational humans, shoved them toward a wild fatalism. When doom is at the front door, all bets are off.

The Santa Ana winds are dry, powerful winds that blow down the mountains toward the Southern California coast. The region sees about 10 Santa Ana wind events a year on average, typically occurring from fall into January. When conditions are dry, as they are right now, these winds can become a severe fire hazard.

Answer: The Santa Ana winds have everything to do with weather. It starts with a high-pressure area over the Great Basin. That’s a huge area, spanning much of Nevada, Utah and parts of California, Idaho,

A rare Particularly Dangerous Situation warning has been issued for Southern California as a powerful and potentially damaging Santa Ana wind event​ is expected.

Critical fire conditions are expected to continue through Friday. But rain could be on the way this weekend. Here's what to know.

(KWTX) -One of the major factors that made the January Los Angeles fires so devastating was the very strong Santa Ana winds. This week we are talking with Alex Tardy, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in San Diego,

"A strong Santa Ana Wind event is expected to develop Monday and last through at least Tuesday," the National Weather Service said.

After a weekend of reprieve allowing fire teams to continue making progress battling the deadly infernos burning in Los Angeles County, Southern California now faces another round of fire-fueling Santa Ana winds.

Santa Ana winds finally delivered a big, direct hit on San Diego County Tuesday, gusting as high as 102 mph in the backcountry where a touch of long-overdue rain could arrive this weekend.

Since Jan. 8, one wave after another of fierce Santa Anas have blown through Southern California. Thus far, the San Diego area has escaped the devastation seen in the Los Angeles areas by wind-whipped blazes that leveled homes and forced evacuations.

In recent days, however, the region’s powerful Santa Ana winds—which have been fanning the flames—have begun to slow down. This lull has offered firefighters a reprieve and a key opportunity to make progress against the blazes, but forecasts suggest the Santa Ana will return next week. What are these gusts, and how have they become so strong?