List of California hurricanes

The remnants of Hurricane Nora over the southwestern United States

A California hurricane is a tropical cyclone that affects the state of California. Usually, only the remnants of tropical cyclones affect California. Since 1900, only two tropical storms have hit California, one by direct landfall from offshore, another after making landfall in Mexico.

Since 1850, only seven tropical cyclones have brought gale-force winds to the southwestern United States. They are: The 1858 San Diego hurricane that was reconstructed as just missing landfall in 1858, the 1939 Long Beach tropical storm that made landfall near San Pedro in 1939, the remnants of Tropical Storm Jennifer-Katherine in 1963, the remnants of Hurricane Emily in 1965, the remnants of Hurricane Joanne in 1972, the remnants of Hurricane Kathleen in 1976, and Hurricane Nora after being downgraded to a tropical storm in 1997.

In most cases, rainfall is the only effect that these cyclones have on California. Sometimes, the rainfall is severe enough to cause flooding and damage. For example, floods from Hurricane Kathleen devastated Ocotillo, California and killed several people. Precipitation other than rainfall is unusual[1] in tropical cyclones, because of their weak updrafts and lack of supercooled water.[2]

An improbable event

There are two reasons why tropical cyclones rarely strike California: sea surface temperatures, and the usual upper level steering winds in the eastern Pacific, with sea surface temperatures being more important.

Tropical cyclones usually require very warm water to depth, generally above 26.5 °C (80 °F) extending to a depth of 50 meters (160 ft).[3]

The waters off California are cold even in summer. They rarely rise above 24 °C (75 °F) in near-shore southern California,[4] and usually don't get above 17 °C (63 °F) along most of the rest of the coast and outer coastal waters, although El Niño events may warm the waters somewhat. This is due primarily to the extensive upwelling of colder sub-surface waters caused by the prevailing northwesterly winds acting through the Ekman Effect. The winds drive surface water to the right of the wind flow, that is offshore, which draws water up from below to replace it. The upwelling further cools the already cool California Current which runs north to south along coastal California and even much of coastal Baja California. This is the same mechanism which produces coastal California's characteristic fog.

The second reason is the general path of tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific. They generally move north-westward or westward due to steering by the prevailing upper level winds, which takes them far out to sea and away from land.[4]

These factors make eastern Pacific landfalls improbable north of about central Baja California. In those instances when upper level steering winds do allow a more northerly path, much cooler sea surface temperatures quickly weaken tropical cyclones that approach California, although torrential rainfall can still occur. For example, the September 24-hour rainfall record for Los Angeles is held by the 1939 Long Beach Tropical Storm, as of January 2007.[5]

List of cyclones

Hurricanes that affect California are mainly the remnants of hurricanes or tropical storms. In the twentieth century, only four eastern Pacific tropical cyclones have brought tropical storm-force winds to the Continental United States: the 1939 Long Beach Tropical Storm, Tropical Storm Joanne in 1972, Tropical Storm Kathleen in 1976, and Tropical Storm Nora in 1997.[6]

Pre–1930

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

Hurricane Heather on October 5, 1977

1980s

1990s

Hurricane Linda on September 12, 1997

2000s

2010s

Hurricane Marie on August 24, 2014

Climatological statistics

Most tropical cyclones impacting California do so in the month of September. September 1939 was "unprecedented" in having four tropical cyclones impact the state.[49]

Number of recorded storms affecting California, by month of year
Month Number of storms
January
0
February
0
March
0
April
0
May
0
June
4
July
7
August
17
September
39
October
9
November
0
December
0
Number of recorded storms affecting California by decade
Period Number of storms
Pre-1930
11
1930s
7
1940s
3
1950s
5
1960s
3
1970s
7
1980s
9
1990s
7
2000s
10
2010s
14

Deadliest storms

The following is a list of all known tropical cyclone-related deaths in California.

Name Year Number of deaths
Unnamed 1939 4593
Unnamed 1932 15
Kathleen 1976 36
Nora 1997 34
Flossie 2001 2
Guillermo 1997 1

Modern repeats

While rare, tropical cyclones do affect California, occasionally very seriously as far as rainfall is concerned.

Damage

Map of warning breakpoints

A modern repeat of the 1858 storm is estimated to cause damages of hundreds of millions of dollars.[6] A repeat of the 1939 tropical storm would cause around 200 million dollars in damage.[6] The most serious damage would be due to rains rather than winds or storm surge, although distant hurricanes may still create heavy surf,[24] possibly injuring or killing people. Nora caused millions in damage and skirted extreme southeastern California.

Preparedness

When Linda was forecast to make landfall, statements about its possible impact were issued by the Oxnard, California office of the National Weather Service. They stressed the uncertainty of a forecast that far in the future.

When Nora was threatening, "unprecedented coordination" was required between the NHC and several other agencies. The coordination was "smooth and effective".[25] However, no inland tropical storm warnings were issued for any area in the United States as Nora was approaching from the south.[25]

There are seven Pacific Coast breakpoints in the United States. They are, from north to south, Point Piedras Blancas, Point Sal, Point Conception, Point Mugu, the mouth of the San Gabriel River, San Mateo Point, and the mouth of the Tijuana River (although places outside this area can be selected if conditions warrant).[50] Should there be the threat of landfall, warnings or watches would be issued for those sections of coast. It is highly unlikely that any tropical cyclone will threaten areas farther north due to the stronger influence of the California Current.

See also

References

  1. Rappaport, Edward N; National Hurricane Center (January 17, 1996). Hurricane Marilyn: September 12 - 22, 1995 (Preliminary Report). United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  2. Chris Landsea. "Subject: C5a) Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by seeding them with silver iodide?". FAQ. National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  3. Christopher Landsea. "Subject: A16) Why do tropical cyclones require 80 °F (26.5 °C) ocean temperatures to form ?". Tropical Cyclone FAQ. National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  4. 1 2 Christopher Landsea. "Subject: G8) Why do hurricanes hit the East coast of the U.S., but never the West coast?". Tropical Cyclone FAQ. National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
  5. 1 2 "A History of Significant Weather Events in Southern California" (PDF). National Weather Service Forecast Office San Diego. February 2010. p. 14. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Christopher Landsea & Michael Chenoweth (November 2004). "The San Diego Hurricane of October 2, 1858" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. American Meteorological Society. p. 1689. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  7. 1 2 Stephen S. Visher (June 1922). "Tropical Cyclones in the Northeast Pacific, Between Hawaii and Mexico" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. American Meteorological Society. p. 296. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  8. "A History of Significant Weather Events in Southern California" (PDF). National Weather Service Forecast Office San Diego. February 2010. p. 4. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Jack Williams (2005-05-17). "California's Tropical Cyclones". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  10. "Tropical Storm Jen-Kath" (GIF). Unisys. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
  11. "Hurricane HYACINTH" (GIF). Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  12. "A History of Significant Weather Events in Southern California" (PDF). National Weather Service Forecast Office San Diego. February 2010. p. 31. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  13. 1 2 Roth, David M. (April 29, 2015). "Tropical Cyclone Point Maxima". Tropical Cyclone Rainfall Data. United States Weather Prediction Center. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  14. David Roth. "Hurricane Heather - October 5-8, 1977".
  15. "Hurricane NORMAN" (GIF). Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  16. 1 2 "A History of Significant Weather Events in Southern California" (PDF). National Weather Service Forecast Office San Diego. February 2010. p. 37. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  17. Gil Clark (1989-11-09). "Preliminary Report Hurricane Octave (file 2)" (GIF). National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  18. Max Mayfield. "Preliminary Report Hurricane Boris 9 (file 2)" (GIF). Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  19. "Remains of Boris" (GIF). Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  20. Max Mayfield (1992-08-09). "Preliminary Report Hurricane Darby (file 3)" (GIF). National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  21. "Hurricane Lester" (GIF). Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  22. "Event Record Details". National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  23. "Remains of Ignacio". Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  24. 1 2 3 Max Mayfield (1997-10-25). "Preliminary Report Hurricane Linda". National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  25. 1 2 3 Edward Rappaport (1997-10-30). "Preliminary Report Hurricane Nora". National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  26. Stacy R. Stewart (2001-10-27). "Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Flossie". National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  27. Miles B. Laswrence & Michelle Mainelli (2001-11-30). "Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Juliette". National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  28. San Diego Union Tribune (2006-07-30). "Horse fire declared fully contained". Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  29. Wikisource:September 4, 2006 NWS San Diego Flash Flood Watch
  30. Robert J. Lopez (2012-07-18). "Hurricane Fabio remnants cause thunder across southern California". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  31. "Tropical storm's last gasp aids Calif. firefighters". 6 September 2012.
  32. "Thunderstorms pound S. Cal for second day". The San Diego Union-Tribune. 26 August 2013.
  33. "U.S. Drought Monitor Report for the Week Ending Sept. 3 (Text)". Bloomberg. September 6, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  34. Gillian Flaccus (2014-08-28). "Day 3 of Big Waves Expected in Southern California". Associated Press. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  35. "Norbert weakens to tropical storm off Mexico; causes flooding in Southern California". Associated Press. September 8, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  36. "100-degree heat, thunderstorms turn San Diego suddenly into Florida - SanDiegoUnionTribune.com". The San Diego Union-Tribune. 16 September 2014.
  37. "Storm passed through San Diego, cleanup begins — with trees - SanDiegoUnionTribune.com". The San Diego Union-Tribune. 17 September 2014.
  38. "Kit Corry". Twitter.
  39. "Traffic Blocked, Thousands Lose Power in Surprise Storm". NBC 7 San Diego.
  40. Los Angeles Times (10 June 2015). "The rain wasn't much, but it broke records for June". latimes.com.
  41. "Rare June storm brings rain to the Bay Area". ABC7 San Francisco.
  42. Los Angeles Times (18 July 2015). "Rain, thunder and lightning pound L.A. area; flooding possible". latimes.com.
  43. Maureen Robertson. "Weather service issues flood advisory until 4:30 Sunday afternoon". Ramona Sentinel.
  44. JANET ZIMMERMAN and DEBRA GRUSZECKI (20 July 2015). "I-10 CLOSURE: Collapsed bridge received high marks in last inspection". Press Enterprise.
  45. http://www.weatherwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/wv.jpg
  46. "National Weather Service declares red flag warning for Bay Area; Cal Fire on alert". ABC7 San Francisco.
  47. "Moisture From Linda to Bring Rain to Southern California Early This Week". AccuWeather.
  48. Samenow, Jason (September 15, 2015). "Hurricane Linda’s remnants drench Los Angeles with wettest September days in decades". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  49. "A History of Significant Weather Events in Southern California" (PDF). National Weather Service Forecast Office San Diego. February 2010. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  50. "Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watch/Warning Breakpoints". National Hurricane Center. 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-07-22.

External links


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