10 Best Pop Culture Shout-Outs to the Santa Ana Winds
Flickr/Dawn Zarimba
Southern California's dry winds in fall and winter can rise up to speeds of 90 mph. Commonly known as the Santa Ana winds, they're now making their first attack on the area.
Panic has arisen on social media. That can't change the winds' mind, but you can find Twitter accounts personifying the winds with posts updating us on their progress.
Here are 10 pop culture references to the famous winds to keep you occupied in the house for a few minutes -- and spare you from heading outside and getting yourself blown away.
10. Big Wednesday
The 1978 film, which chronicles the lives of surfers in California from the 60s and 70s, opens with a description of the Santa Anas. You can even spot a very tanned, younger version of Gary Busey strutting his stuff:
Big Wednesday
9. America's Next Top Model
During cycle 11 of the series, the models were assigned the task of representing Los Angeles natural disasters such as earthquakes and tidal waves. Analeigh was chosen to represent the wind.
YouTube From Analeigh's wind-related shoot
8. Less Than Zero
Bret Easton Ellis' novel follows the young, rich teenager Clay during his college winter break in Los Angeles, which cites the Santa Ana winds in its description of the setting: "The darkness, the wind rustling from the hedges...all had an eerie effect on me and I ran inside and turned all the lights on and got into bed and fell asleep, listening to the strange desert wind moan outside my window." The novel is currently competing in L.A. Weekly's Best L.A. Novel Ever Tournament. 
Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero
7. Beach Boys
The song "Santa Ana Winds" appears on the Beach Boy's twenty-fourth album Keepin' the Summer Alive. It begins by saying, "Here in Southern California there is a weather condition known as the Santa Ana Winds," later praising the winds for creating nice waves.
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