föhn

They go by various names in various parts of the world — chinooks, bergwinds and others — but whatever they're called, the föhns are ill winds indeed:

"Santa Anas are categorized as a föhn wind by meteorologists. The 'murder winds' were termed so during a study by the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Germany which found a 10 percent increase in suicide and accidents during föhn winds in Central Europe. Santa Anas Winds of are the föhn kind called snow-eaters, because they can swiftly make snow melt in the Alps."

Link: Malibu Arts Reviews Magazine - Malibu Fire Crews Exhausted But Fight On Against The "Devil Winds"