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List of California hurricanes

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A California hurricane is a tropical cyclone originating in the eastern Pacific Ocean that affects the Continental United States, usually the states of California or Arizona. While rare events, they do happen. Usually, only the remnants of tropical cyclones affect California. However, landfalls have occurred.

Since 1900, a grand total of four tropical cyclones have brought gale-force winds to the Southwestern United States. They are an unnamed tropical storm that made landfall near Long Beach in 1939, Hurricane Joanne in 1972, Hurricane Kathleen in 1976, and Hurricane Nora in 1997. In addition, a hurricane just missed making landfall in 1859.

In most cases, rainfall is the only effect that these cyclones have on California. Sometimes, this rainfall is severe enough to cause flooding and damage. For example, floods from Hurricane Kathleen devastated Ocotillo, California and killed three people.

The remnants of Hurricane Nora over the south-western United States

A rare event

There are two primary reasons why hurricanes are so rare in California; ocean temperatures and the usual track of tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific.

The waters off California are cold even in summer. They rarely rise above 24 C (75 F) [1], although El Nino events may warm the waters somewhat. The reason for the cold waters is the fact that the prevailing winds of the area blow out to sea. This carries warm surface water with it. The cold California Current flows south, and mixes with cold water upwelling from below. This keeps the ocean cool and unsuitable for tropical cyclones

The second reason is the general path of tropical cyclones in the northern hemisphere. They generally move north-westward or westward, which takes them far out to sea and away from land. This makes eastern Pacific landfalls rare.

List of cyclones

Most of these cyclones are actually just the remnants of hurricanes or tropical storms. Since 1858, there have been one report of hurricane-strength winds and four reports of gale-force winds from tropical cyclones. Of these storms, there was one near-landfall and one landfall. The other three storms made landfall in Mexico and moved north.

Pre 1930

  • September 30, 1921: the remnants of a cyclone moved from Baja California and brought rain to Arizona and parts of California.
  • September 18, 1929: a cyclone in the Pacific Ocean generated rain in Southern California.

1930s

  • August 25, 1935: a cyclone moved from the south and brought rain to southern California and parts of Arizona.
  • August 9, 1936: a hurricane's remnants moving north brought heavy rains to the Los Angeles area.

1940s

  • September 1941: moisture from a hurricane caused rain.

1950s

  • August 27-August 29, 1951: the remnants of a tropical cyclone brought enough rain to wash out some roads in Southern California.
  • July 17-July 19, 1954: the remnants of a hurricane moved into Arizona, bringing rain to the state and parts of California.

1960s

1970s

Hurricane Heather on October 5, 1977
  • September 30-October 1, 1971: Atlantic Hurricane Irene crossed Central America and became Hurricane Olivia. Olivia eventually recurved and made landfall in Baja California, with the remnants bringing rain to California[5].
  • September 3, 1972: Tropical Depression Hyacinth made landfall and produced rain around Los Angeles.
  • October 6, 1972: Hurricane Joanne made landfall in Mexico and managed to bring gale-force winds to Arizona and rain to that state and California.
  • August 18-August 19, 1977: Hurricane Doreen dissipated off the coast of California. The remnants moved inland and caused flooding and crop damage.
File:Hurricane Norman 1978.jpg
Hurricane Norman on September 1, 1978

1980s

  • October 7, 1983: the very weak remnants of Hurricane Priscilla caused showers in Southern California.

1990s

File:Hurricane Linda 1997.jpg
Hurricane Linda on September 12, 1997
  • September 25-September 26, 1997: After making landfall in Baja California, Hurricane Nora maintained gale-force winds into Arizona. Rain was brought to that state. Damage totaled several hundred million,[8], including 40 million dollars to lemon trees. The remnants of the hurricane flattened trees in Utah. There were a few indirect deaths caused by the hurricane [9].

2000s

  • September 2001: The remnants of Hurricane Flossie dissipated over the deserts of the Southwest United States.
  • September 30, 2001: thunderstorms from the remnants of Hurricane Juliette caused minor damage to California and brought rain to the area.

Modern repeats

While rare, tropical cyclones do affect California, occasionally very seriously. A recurrence is inevitable. There appears to be no specific warning system on the calibre of that in the Atlantic. However, breakpoints for warnings and watches in California [10] do exist.

Damage

A modern repeat of the 1858 storm is estimated to cause damages of hundreds of millions of dollars [11]. A repeat of the Long Beach tropical storm is would cause around 200 million dollars in damage [12]. The most serious damage would be due to rains rather than winds or storm surge, although distant hurricanes may still create heavy surf [13], possibly injuring or killing people. Nora did millions in damage, and it did not make landfall.

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.

File:CaliforniaTropicalCycloneBreakpoints.JPG
Map of warning breakpoints

When Nora was threatening, "unprecedented coordination" was required between the NHC and several other agencies. The coordination was "smooth and effective" [14]. However, no inland tropical storm warnings were issued for any area in the United States as Nora was approaching from the south [15].

There are four breakpoints in the United States. They are, from north to south, Point Conception, Point Mugu, San Mateo Point, and the international border with Mexico [16]. Should there be the threat of landfall, warnings or watches would be issued for those sections of coast.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ NOAA Tropical Cyclone FAQ
  2. ^ The San Diego Hurricane
  3. ^ ibid.
  4. ^ California's Tropical Cyclones
  5. ^ ibid.
  6. ^ ibid.
  7. ^ NHC Linda Preliminary Report
  8. ^ NHC Nora Preliminary Report
  9. ^ ibid.
  10. ^ NHC International Breakpoints list
  11. ^ The San Diego Hurricane
  12. ^ ibid.
  13. ^ NHC Linda Preliminary Report
  14. ^ NHC Nora Preliminary Report
  15. ^ ibid.
  16. ^ NHC International Breakpoints list

References

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