California is prone from
time-to-time to differents types of
natural or
man-made disasters... such as
earthquakes, floods, mudslides and
brushfires.
But...the
question that many Californian's wonder
about is why tropical storms or
hurricanes never move onshore in
California?
There
are basically 2 reasons why Californian's
don't have to worry about being impacted
by tropical systems.
- Both
Atlantic and Pacific tropical
systems tend to move with the
tradewinds toward the
west-northwest. These storms
typically form off the coast of
central/southern Mexico and track
west/northwest away
 from any
shoreline. Occasionally the
prevailing trade winds will be
blowing in a northwesterly
direction and will direct the
tropical storm more in a
north/northwesterly direction.
When this
situation occurs... on average
these storms will have an impact
on Baja California. During these
types of pattern
develops...moisture from these
tropical systems will circulate
into the southwestern United
States and often bring an
increasing threat of
thunderstorms and potential of
heavy rains...including at
times...southern California.
- The
other major reason is the water temperature is too
cool off the California coast to
substain any tropical system.
Simply... tropical
 systems
need warm water for fuel.
Tropical systems
need water temperatures above 80
degrees fahrenheit to
survive...and rarely water
temperature exceed 70 degrees
fahrenheit along the coast of
California.
The last time California took a direct
hit from a tropical storm was on
September 25th, 1939.
The
storm move inland near Long Beach and
killed 45 people. The storm had maximum
sustained winds of 50 mph.
In
September of 1997...Hurricane
"Linda" for a brief time
threatened San Diego County...but fizzled
quickly before even coming close to the
area.
What's
Currently happening in the eastern
Pacific?
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