“The weather was so contrary and fierce that the rain wasn’t mere rain or the wind just wind – this was a conspiracy of the elements.”

~ Georges Simenon 1903-89 Belgian author

Typical summer weather here – hot and hotter. Typical summer weather along the East Coast unfortunately often includes hurricanes.

As Hurricane Dorian winds down, you may wonder why the West Coast doesn’t experience hurricanes. There’s more than one reason.

First, most hurricanes form in the tropics where winds blow from east to west. Those forming over the southern Atlantic Ocean head straight for the U.S. mainland with the first stop usually in Florida. Pacific storms off our West Coast also blow easterly, which is away from land. Ocean water temperature is the second reason; our water is too cold at around 70 degrees. Warm water fuels hurricanes and the waters in the Atlantic, southward to the Gulf of Mexico, stay close to 80 degrees.

But there was a time – in 1939 – when a tropical storm came ashore in San Pedro dropping torrential rains in L.A. County from Sept. 24-26. Mt. Wilson had over 11 inches. Wind gusts reached 65 mph, not quite hurricane force which is 74 mph. Forty-five people were killed by flooding and an additional 48 died at sea. Homes and other structures, boats, roads, utility lines and crops were damaged or beyond repair. Because Southern Californians were unprepared for such an event, a Weather Bureau office was established soon after in February 1940. (Part 2 next week.)

Today and tomorrow, large billowing clouds – cumulonimbus ¬– are expected to form over our mountains; thundershowers are expected in the eastern San Gabriels. This weekend and into next week there is a bit of discrepancy among the NWS meteorologists as to temperatures. As often happens, the weather’s outcome is directed by the strength of the onshore (cooler) and offshore winds (warmer) winds. Predictability as one season transitions to another becomes more challenging. 

It’s good fun to watch the “changing of the merchandize” at our local stores. Pumpkins, scarecrows and skeletons are rapidly overtaking the spaces where the inflatable flamingos, sand buckets and patio furniture had been. Summer’s end is near.

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley
resident and  Official Skywarn
Spotter for the National Weather Service. Reach her at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick