2023-08-18 15:30:46
The advance of Hurricane Hilary towards the coasts of southern California, following rapidly intensifying to category 4, brings an unusual prospect for the community of Los Angeles, which has not seen a severe storm in more than 80 years.
The last time a tropical storm hit Los Angeles directly was in 1939, when the so-called Cordon of San Francisco — the generic name attributed to storms that form around October 4, the day of Saint Francis of Assisi — brought torrential rains that left 45 dead on land and another 48 at sea, according to newspaper records. Los Angeles Times.
[Mayoría de muertes ocasionadas por huracanes ocurrieron en condados vulnerables, según un estudio]
The National Hurricane Center issued the first tropical storm watch alert for California on Friday in that state’s history. It is feared that Hilary will bring as much rain to parts of California, Nevada and Arizona in a few days as it does in a whole year.
The cordonazo on September 25, 1939 brought winds of up to 65 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) and dumped more than five inches of rain in a couple of days, causing deadly flooding in southern California. The gusts brought down power poles and damaged boats, buildings and crops.
Gray clouds over the city of Los Angeles, in a 2014 file photo. Nick Ut / AP
One day before the entry of the cordon, a heat wave overwhelmed the residents of Los Angeles, but a formation of dark clouds already heralded the change of weather, reported the cited media. Four storms were headed for the area, but only one of them made it past the 25 degree latitude barrier. Then the temperature dropped almost 20ºF, to 81, and then down to 67ºF. Around 5:00 pm (local time) the rains began and gusts of up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) that soon intensified.
It was the only storm to hit Los Angeles in the last century and, like Hurricane Hilary, it also occurred during the season of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
NASA climatologist Bill Patzert stressed in an interview with the Times that the cordonazo is a phenomenon that occurs when a storm that forms on the west coast of the Pacific, usually east of Central America and southern Mexico, moves toward the north and exceeds 25° latitude (at the height of the Baja California peninsula), something rare.
The name Cordonazo de San Francisco has to do with the popular belief that the Catholic saint caused rain by cracking a whip in heaven to drive the devil out of this world and back to hell, according to the Times.
The real danger of a hurricane in Los Angeles
But is it possible that this time Hilary will become the first hurricane in history to hit the Californian city? The short answer is no, although potential damage from heavy rain and flash flooding is not ruled out.
meteorologists Hilary is forecast to lose hurricane strength and weaken to a tropical storm over the weekend in the cold waters of the Pacific. However, a strong tropical storm—like the one in 1939—can also be deadly.
In the early hours of this Friday, the vortex of the hurricane was regarding 400 miles (640 kilometers) south of Los Cabos, at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, and was moving in a west-northwest direction at regarding 13 miles per hour (20 kilometers per hour), but it is expected to gradually move north on Saturday.
It was carrying sustained winds of nearly 145 miles per hour (230 kilometers per hour) and is expected to continue strengthening through Friday, before starting to weaken as it approaches the coast and moves away from the unusually warm Pacific waters.
“Heavy rains associated with Hillary are expected to lash the southwestern United States through next Wednesday, peaking Sunday and Monday,” the National Hurricane Center said, adding that there is a significant danger of flash flooding in the area between San Diego and Las Vegas.
[Renuncia el director de emergencias de Maui tras críticas por no sonar las sirenas ante los incendios]
The forecast of excessive rainfall for southern California spans Sunday through Tuesdayaccording to the Los Angeles Weather Bureau.
Meanwhile, the city of Yuma (Arizona) got ready on Thursday by making a self-service station available to the population to fill sand bags, the news agency reported. The Assocated Press.
Mexico feels the onslaught of Hilary
Meanwhile, the Government of Mexico pointed out that the storm, already weakened, might impact on Sunday night between the cities of Playas de Rosarito and Ensenada, in the state of Baja California.
The phenomenon would leave “heavy” rains in Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco, as well as “very heavy” rains in Durango, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Colima and Michoacán, the National Meteorological Service forecast for this Friday.
Likewise, there would be “strong” rainfall in Baja California, Querétaro, the State of Mexico, Mexico City and Morelos.
Recommended
To date, seven named cyclones have formed in the current Pacific hurricane season: Adrian, Beatriz, Calvin, Dora, Eugene, Fernanda y Gregnone with damage in Mexico.
The Government of Mexico forecast in May the formation of up to 38 named cyclones in the 2023 season, of which five would impact the country. Of that number, between 16 and 22 systems might occur in the Pacific Ocean, and between 10 and 16 in the Atlantic.
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