Hurricanes never seem to hit the west coast of the US, why is that?
In: Earth Science
The answer is kinda complicated for an ELI5, and every answer so far includes only one part of many factors that combine to form the proper answer.
*ELI5: Hurricanes are complicated and require near perfect conditions, and those conditions are very rare off the coast of California.*
These reasons are:
1. Too far north. San Diego is much further north than people think, further north than Atlanta, for example. Strong winds in higher latitudes tear apart high latitude storms. Because California is higher in latitude, the west-to-east winds will be a factor in tearing apart any tropical system before it can make landfall.
2. Cold water. Tropical weather needs 78+ degree water to get the energy to sustain itself. Water off the coast of San Diego is 65 today. The currents on the west coast are north to south carrying cold water from Alaska, while the currents on the east coast are south to north carrying warm water from the Gulf of Mexico.
3. Land mass shape. The shape of the west coast of North America is such that any storm that forms and turns north is more likely to hit Mexico than California. On the flip side, the shape of the Gulf of Mexico is conducive for creating storms and Florida and North Carolina hang out as huge targets.
Some of these factors are similar to why it is rare to see direct hits from strong storms in New York too. Atlantic storms spin down as they head north due to shear from jet stream winds, cool water, and usually curve away before hitting land that far north.
That said, California isn’t immune. It has been hit by a few tropical systems in its history and also is quite regularly impacted by rain and heavy storms associated with storm remnants (and will this week via Nora’s remnants, it would appear).
Edit: fixed some errors.
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