Etymology

Diablo wind

Today it means: A hot, dry (downslope) wind from the northeast that occurs in northern and central California, sometimes causing firestorms. Full definition →

Spanish diablo
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The story

  1. Spanish · derived fromdiablo“devil”
  2. English todayDiablo wind

So called because in the San Francisco Bay area the wind blows from the direction of Mount Diablo and the Diablo Range, which ultimately gets its name from Spanish diablo (“devil”), the hot and fiery connotations of which may have reinforced the use of the name for hot, firestorm-causing winds.

Words from the same roots

Spanishdiablo all →

diabloDiabloerMount Diablo

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.