The Santa Ana winds fanning wildfires that have killed at least 25 people in Southern California and destroyed more than 10,000 houses, businesses and other structures in Greater Los Angeles are flaring up again.

Northeastern Global News interviewed Lindsay Lawrence, a Northeastern Ph.D. candidate with a master's degree in meteorology, about the source of the Santa Ana winds, their seasonal nature -- and why Southern California could experience additional extreme wind events this month.

The answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Santa Ana winds are a geographically specific type of wind that occur in Southern California known as katabatic winds.

They are cold, dry, down-sloping winds that warm as they descend a mountain side.

Santa Ana winds generally blow from the east/northeast and persist due to a high pressure system over an area called the Great Basin, bordered on the south by the Mojave Desert, and low pressure off the West Coast.

Air then flows offshore through the coastal ranges of Santa Ana, Santa Monica and Laguna.

The duration of the events definitely varies, but in January most events tend to last somewhere between two to three days.

There are, on average, five monthly SAW events during the peak season of December, January and February.

But expect up to seven or eight wind events during more active Januarys.

These Santa Ana winds were right on time.

The seasonality of the SAWs is such that events occur most frequently during the winter months -- peaking in December and January.