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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA huge El Niņo could devastate Southern California
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-huge-el-nino-could-devastate-southern-california-20150813-story.htmlIt started in October 1997 in Mexico, when a hurricane fueled by El Niño slammed into Acapulco, causing massive flooding and hundreds of deaths.
A few weeks later, storms started hitting Southern California. Mobile home parks in Huntington Beach flooded, forcing rescuers to use inflatable boats and a catamaran to rescue residents. Then in December, the skies opened up in Orange County in what meteorologists described as the biggest rainstorm in a century. More than seven inches fell in parts of south Orange County in one day. Mudslides destroyed hillside homes. Neighborhoods flooded. Major roads were made impassable by debris.
And that was just the beginning. Over the next few months, a series of powerful storms caused havoc, washing away roads and railroad tracks, overflowing flood control channels, causing 17 deaths and more than half a billion dollars in damage in California. The toll was far worse in Mexico, where Tijuana and other cities faced crippling flooding.
The importance of the El Niño storm of 1997-98 is now coming into focus as scientists say the weather pattern is returning to Southern California with a vengeance.
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Tommy_Carcetti
(43,227 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)It can be downright annoying at times.
B2G
(9,766 posts)SwankyXomb
(2,030 posts)will run straight into the ocean.
Kber
(5,043 posts)He picked Cali partially for the weather - oh well!
It will still probably beat Rochester, NY or Amherst, MA in February.
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)I Welcome him to So. Cal. It's going to be really hard to leave once he gets here!
Kber
(5,043 posts)Yeah - we are somewhat expecting to lose him.
He's used to North East winters, summer humidity, seasonal allergies, and similar inconveniences.
The earthquakes, fires, floods (and, I assume, occasional hordes of locusts?) may be an acceptable tradeoff for him.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)Far enough from LA to be comfortable but close enough to enjoy the culture.
PufPuf23
(8,854 posts)I posted this article in E&E and Good Reads several weeks ago. Nice graphics.
California could be in for a wetter-than-normal winter, thanks to the mysterious meteorological phenomenon known as El Niño. Weather scientists have been watching El Niño get stronger throughout this year and think it could match or surpass the strongest on record, back in 1997. What does this mean for long-suffering California and its interminable drought? Let us explain.
What the heck is El Niño again?
Normally, equatorial winds in the Pacific Ocean blow toward the west and push warm surface water in that direction. El Niño"the child," named in reference to Jesus by Spanish-speaking fishermen from South America who noticed, starting centuries ago, unusual weather around Christmas-timehappens every few years when those winds die down or diminish, leaving more warm water pooled along the equator off the coast of South America.
That's been happening this year; the longer the wind pattern remains unusual, the more the eastern Pacific warms up. Here's a map of ocean temperature anomalies (that is, variations from the long-term average) from late June. Notice the band of red and white (white is the hottest) in the center of the Pacific and the cooler-than-usual water off Southeast Asia? That's El Niño:
(Side note: Satellite maps like these are a prime example of the kind of research GOP presidential contender Ted Cruz wants to block NASA from conducting.) Now check out the same reading from last week. It's gotten stronger:
NASA
That trend is probably going to continue throughout this year, said Daniel Swain, an atmospheric scientist at Stanford University.
"It hasn't peaked yet, and it's already quite strong," he said.......
article at: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/07/sorry-california-el-nino-wont-save-you-drought
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)it will completely and totally overwhelm this blob and destroy it. The coming Kelvin wave is literally off the chart anomaly.
PufPuf23
(8,854 posts)can have strong El Nino and strong drought at the same time.
Climate change means more and more extreme peak climate events and increased biological extinctions as well as coastal flooding.
And there is no going back no alas.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)The colonials flooded. People died. It was quite ugly
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)to devastate California. Apparently, this is an international dateline El Nino and not a West Coast El Nino.
I was all happy until I found this out. Here's the link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141176487#post23