The hot, dry, and gusty offshore winds in Southern California that are actually born near the Rocky Mountains. Typically seen between September and February, the offshore breezes begin when a ridge of circling high pressure builds over the Great Basin, forcing air down slope from that plateau. That air is then pushed westward out through the deserts where it warms at a rate of 5 degrees per 1,000 feet before kissing incoming swells (and fanning autumn fires) on the coast at anywhere from 25 to 50 knots. Homeowner's fright, surfer's delight.