2009.08.31
Bad weather on the other coast: Wildfires and a hurricane
A hot, dry summer out West -- very different than ours -- has helped a massive wildfire grown near Los Angeles, where it threatens homes. Meanwhile, to the south, Category 4-nearly-5 Hurricane Jimena is threatening Baja California (a part of Mexico) with a projected path toward the southwestern U.S. as it weakens. Can Jimena deliver some needed rain to southern California? Or will it fan more fire-spreading wind from east and northeast as it passes by through Arizona?
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The movement of Cat 3 Hurricane Jimena prompts this question. I realize that it will get beat down by the cool California Current that comes all the way down from Alaska, but just inside the Baja California peninsula, the Gulf of California must have water 85-90 degrees this time of the year. If the center of a hurricane were to ride up that gulf, I wonder what would win-out, the warm water or the interaction with land. Has there ever been a Pacific Hurricane that "rode the gaultlet" and came inland strong into the southern California and Arizona?
Comment by Rick — August 31, 2009 @ 7:36 pm
[...] Bad weather on the other coast: Wildfires and a hurricane [...]
Pingback by baja hurricane | Latest News | Hot News | Recent News — August 31, 2009 @ 8:31 pm
Rick: Below is linked a short history of tropical systems affecting California since the 1920s, but I pull out one item that is close to what you described, and notice the name:
"September 1967: Hurricane Katrina crossed the southern tip of Baja California, then traversed almost the entire length of the Gulf of California before making landfall again and rapidly weakening. Rainfall of 2 inches occurred in the southern mountains and deserts of southern California on the 1st through 3rd."
Yes, indeed, a Hurricane Katrina in the Pacific 38 years before THE Katrina in the Gulf!
Tropical storm history in California:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whhcalif.htm
Comment by Kevin Myatt — August 31, 2009 @ 10:13 pm