Dear Tom,
Has there ever been a hurricane on the West Coast of the United States?
Olivia and Anna Monson
Dear Olivia and Anna,
The waters off the U.S. Pacific Coast, with temperatures usually in the 50s and 60s, are far too chilly to support hurricanes, which require 80(degrees)-plus water.
Pacific hurricanes do form farther south where ocean waters are warm enough, from Baja, Calif., south to El Salvador, and in greater numbers than in the Atlantic Basin–but prevailing winds carry those storms west into the open ocean.
On very rare occasions, perhaps once a century, the ocean off southern California warms briefly, and weak hurricanes do strike there. In September of 1939, one such storm, known as “El Cordonazo,” brought gales and heavy rainfall to both Los Angeles and San Diego.
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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.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
