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Could a Hurricane Ever Strike Southern California?

By Guest PostOctober 19, 2012Environmentalaska current, america, annual, atlantic, bill patzert, california, california current, californians, climatologist, current flow, drought, earthquake, eastern pacific, el niño, fire, flood, four seasons, fuel, gale force, godzilla, goes 9, golden state, gulf coaster, hurricane, hurricane capital, hurricane john, hurricane linda, Japan, kathleen, maximum temperature, mother nature, noaa, nora, north pacific, northern baja california, northern hemisphere, old adage, pacific decadal oscillation, pacific hurricanes, pacific ocean, pdo, quakes, rain, rainfall, rancho cucamonga, ropical storm, santa ana, satellite, southern california, southern californians, summer, thunderstorm, tropical cyclone, united states, us east, water budget, wind

There’s an old adage (with several variations) that California has four seasons: earthquake, fire, flood and drought. While Californians happily cede the title of Hurricane Capital of America to U.S. East and Gulf coasters, every once in a while, Mother Nature sends a reminder to Southern Californians that they are not completely immune to the whims of tropical cyclones. Typically, this takes the form of rainfall from the remnants of a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific, as happened recently when the remnants of Hurricane John brought rain and thunderstorms to parts of Southern California. But could a hurricane ever make landfall in Southern California?

The answer, as it turns out, is yes, and no. While there has never been a documented case of a hurricane making landfall in California, the Golden State has had its share of run-ins and close calls with tropical cyclones. In fact, California has been affected by at least a few tropical cyclones in every decade since 1900. Over that timeframe, three of those storms brought gale-force winds to California: an unnamed California tropical storm in 1939, Kathleen in 1976 and Nora in 1997. But the primary threat from California tropical cyclones isn’t winds or storm surge. It’s rainfall — sometimes torrential — which has led to flooding, damage and, occasionally, casualties. (more…)

Study Indicates Hail May Disappear From Colorado’s Front Range by 2070

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2012Environmentclimate change, climate models, climate warming, colorado, colorado springs, continental divide, decision-makers, denver, downscaled, downscaling technique, eastern flank, flash floods, foothill communities, fort collins, global climate models, greenhouse gases, hail, hail damage, hailstones, james scott, joseph barsugli, kelly mahoney, michael alexander, nature climate change, precipitation, rain, regional scale models, regional topography, risk of flooding, rocky mountains, runoff, thunderstorms, weather scale

Summertime hail could all but disappear from the eastern flank of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains by 2070, says a new study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Less hail damage could be good news for gardeners and farmers, said lead author Kelly Mahoney, a research scientist at CIRES, but a shift from hail to rain can also mean more runoff, which could raise the risk of flash floods. “In this region of elevated terrain, hail may lessen the risk of flooding because it takes awhile to melt,” Mahoney said. “Decision makers may not want to count on that in the future.” (more…)

Spitzer Sees Crystal ‘Rain’ in Outer Clouds of Infant Star

By Guest PostMay 30, 2011Scienceastronomers, bill danchi, charles poteet, clouds of gas, comets, constellation orion, crystals, deep impact missions, embryonic star, forsterite crystals, green mineral, herschel space observatory, hops 68, NASA, ohio, olivine, protostar, rain, solar system, spitzer space telescope, star, stardust, tom megeath, university of toledo, young stars

PASADENA, Calif. –– Tiny crystals of a green mineral called olivine are falling down like rain on a burgeoning star, according to observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

This is the first time such crystals have been observed in the dusty clouds of gas that collapse around forming stars. Astronomers are still debating how the crystals got there, but the most likely culprits are jets of gas blasting away from the embryonic star. (more…)

Tag Archives: rain

Could a Hurricane Ever Strike Southern California?

Study Indicates Hail May Disappear From Colorado’s Front Range by 2070

Spitzer Sees Crystal ‘Rain’ in Outer Clouds of Infant Star