Dear Tom,
Does California ever experience hurricanes?
Lori Forneris, Joliet Junior College
Dear Lori,
Hurricanes and tropical storms occur regularly south of the U.S. off the west coast of Mexico in Baja California where the 80(degrees)+ ocean water there provides the necessary energy to fuel the storms. Water temperatures drop off sharply north toward the U.S. border and the typical readings there in the 50s and 60s are prohibitively cool for hurricane formation. As a result, most tropical cyclones rapidly weaken if they are steered north to the U.S. California coast. On rare occasions, a tropical cyclone will move north on either side of Baja California and vigorously strike the southwestern U.S. mainland. One such storm known as “El Cordonazo” brought gales and heavy rainfall to both Los Angeles and San Diego on September 25, 1939.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
