3 ms·

I could swear I remember some kind of tropical storm/hurricane remnants hitting SoCal late last summer or maybe the summer before - was I dreaming of the future

I could swear I remember some kind of tropical storm/hurricane remnants hitting SoCal late last summer or maybe the summer before - was I dreaming of the future again? Edit: It was hurricane Kay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Kay_(2022) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Kay_(2022)

xvedejas 3y ago
You might be thinking of an Atmospheric River / "pineapple express"? While that phenomenon may originate from roughly the tropics, it's not the same as a Tropical Storm.
- UncleOxidant 3y ago
  Nope. This was hurricane remnants coming up from the south. I even recall tuning into some SoCal news stations for some live coverage. The atmospheric rivers come in the winter - this was late summer. Maybe it had weakened more and wasn't considered a tropical storm then, maybe just a tropical depression. Edit: maybe it was hurricane Kay? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Kay_(2022) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Kay_(2022) "As Kay moved northward, it transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone overnight 9–10, not far southwest from San Diego, California"
  - bandyaboot 3y ago
    It was tropical storm Kay last year. It weakened to a post tropical storm some ways away from San Diego and ultimately turned back south. Though you are correct that it did have some impacts to California.
    - UncleOxidant 3y ago
      Yeah, that's the one I'm remembering. I kept hearing "this hasn't happened in 84 years" and was thinking, didn't it just happen last year? But apparently Kay was a good bit weaker than Hilary will be when it arrives in San Diego.
    - njarboe 3y ago
      Some serious impacts. That storm started over 600 wildfires via lightning strikes. It overwhelmed the fire fighting system in California especially since we had serious COVID lock downs in effect and 10% of the firefighters were not available. They had been released from prison due to COVID. Much of the Santa Cruz mountains burned. In northern California a fire was left burning for about a month before it finally flared up and ended up burning over a million acres. Six weeks when the air was so bad that people in my area were advised to not go out doors. That was a big motivator for me leaving the state.
      - bandyaboot 3y ago
        Yeah I recall seeing the images out of SF last year where the sky just had an otherworldly color to them. Here in the northern reaches of the country this summer we’ve had our fair share of wildfire smoke out of Canada—probably something like 2 days a week on average when the wind lines up. But yeah, nothing like what was going on in CA last year.
        fuzztester 3y ago
        >otherworldly color orangeish, as I saw it. I was in India and read the news and saw the photos too. Both freaked me out. And the Australia fires had been around the same time, +/- a year or so. Similar damage.
  - gensym 3y ago
    Yeah, I remember it well because it put out a nasty wildfire that forced a lot of our neighbors to evacuate. As one person out it, “When you’re praying for a once-in-generation hurricane to come save your home, that’s a stressful week”
bombcar 3y ago
It’s threatened a few times but turned away in the last decade or so.
dragonwriter 3y ago
Remnants from hurricanes or tropical storms fairly often make landfall in California as something less than a tropical storm [0], Hilary looks likely to be the first to hit California as a tropical storm since 1939 (the last to hit as a hurricane appears to be in 1858, but Hilary isn’t, contrary to the headline, expected to hit as a hurricane, either. Also, peripheral effects of a storm that is a tropical storm or hurricane may hit California without the storm making landfall in California. [0] by the NOAA definitions, where a tropical cyclone with wind speeds up to 38mph is a “tropical depression”, one with winds of 39-73mph is a “tropical storm”, and one with wind speeds over 74mph is a “hurricane”.
- bryan0 3y ago
  Looks like last tropical storm to hit CA was from hurricane Nora in 1997: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Nora_(1997) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Nora_(1997) Edit: ok I see it might have been downgraded to tropical depression by the time it hit CA Edit 2: apparently it did hit CA as a tropical storm but it does not count as “landfall”: https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/the-last-time-hurricane-tropical-storm-hit-california https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/the-last-time-hurricane-tr...

xvedejas 3y ago

You might be thinking of an Atmospheric River / "pineapple express"? While that phenomenon may originate from roughly the tropics, it's not the same as a Tropical Storm.

UncleOxidant 3y ago
Nope. This was hurricane remnants coming up from the south. I even recall tuning into some SoCal news stations for some live coverage. The atmospheric rivers come in the winter - this was late summer. Maybe it had weakened more and wasn't considered a tropical storm then, maybe just a tropical depression. Edit: maybe it was hurricane Kay? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Kay_(2022) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Kay_(2022) "As Kay moved northward, it transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone overnight 9–10, not far southwest from San Diego, California"
- bandyaboot 3y ago
  It was tropical storm Kay last year. It weakened to a post tropical storm some ways away from San Diego and ultimately turned back south. Though you are correct that it did have some impacts to California.
  - UncleOxidant 3y ago
    Yeah, that's the one I'm remembering. I kept hearing "this hasn't happened in 84 years" and was thinking, didn't it just happen last year? But apparently Kay was a good bit weaker than Hilary will be when it arrives in San Diego.
  - njarboe 3y ago
    Some serious impacts. That storm started over 600 wildfires via lightning strikes. It overwhelmed the fire fighting system in California especially since we had serious COVID lock downs in effect and 10% of the firefighters were not available. They had been released from prison due to COVID. Much of the Santa Cruz mountains burned. In northern California a fire was left burning for about a month before it finally flared up and ended up burning over a million acres. Six weeks when the air was so bad that people in my area were advised to not go out doors. That was a big motivator for me leaving the state.
    - bandyaboot 3y ago
      Yeah I recall seeing the images out of SF last year where the sky just had an otherworldly color to them. Here in the northern reaches of the country this summer we’ve had our fair share of wildfire smoke out of Canada—probably something like 2 days a week on average when the wind lines up. But yeah, nothing like what was going on in CA last year.
      - fuzztester 3y ago
        >otherworldly color orangeish, as I saw it. I was in India and read the news and saw the photos too. Both freaked me out. And the Australia fires had been around the same time, +/- a year or so. Similar damage.
- gensym 3y ago
  Yeah, I remember it well because it put out a nasty wildfire that forced a lot of our neighbors to evacuate. As one person out it, “When you’re praying for a once-in-generation hurricane to come save your home, that’s a stressful week”

bombcar 3y ago

It’s threatened a few times but turned away in the last decade or so.

dragonwriter 3y ago

Remnants from hurricanes or tropical storms fairly often make landfall in California as something less than a tropical storm [0], Hilary looks likely to be the first to hit California as a tropical storm since 1939 (the last to hit as a hurricane appears to be in 1858, but Hilary isn’t, contrary to the headline, expected to hit as a hurricane, either. Also, peripheral effects of a storm that is a tropical storm or hurricane may hit California without the storm making landfall in California. [0] by the NOAA definitions, where a tropical cyclone with wind speeds up to 38mph is a “tropical depression”, one with winds of 39-73mph is a “tropical storm”, and one with wind speeds over 74mph is a “hurricane”.

bryan0 3y ago
Looks like last tropical storm to hit CA was from hurricane Nora in 1997: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Nora_(1997) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Nora_(1997) Edit: ok I see it might have been downgraded to tropical depression by the time it hit CA Edit 2: apparently it did hit CA as a tropical storm but it does not count as “landfall”: https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/the-last-time-hurricane-tropical-storm-hit-california https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/the-last-time-hurricane-tr...