Thursday, August 28, 2014

Pacific Hurricane Generates Huge Waves, Coastal Flooding in Mexico and Southern Cal


Hurricane Marie generated huge swells at it spun off the coast of of Mexico earlier this week. On Sun Aug 24, Marie's winds increased to 160 MPH, making it a cat-5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale. Although Marie was centered more than 300 miles SW of Mexico's Baja Peninsula, and more than 800 miles SSW of Southern California, the storm generated massive waves along both of these coastlines.

 Hurricane Marie intensified to a cat-5 hurricane with winds as high as 160 MPH, as it spun off the Mexican coast earlier this week. Image: USA Today


Marie track and wind speed map provided by Weather Underground.

These waves drew both surfers and spectators to locations like The Wedge at Newport Beach, CA. Maybe we finally know why school on the west coast doesn't start until mid-September in many locations. Why try to hold class when surf's up?

Unfortunately, Marie also caused coastal flooding problems for locations like Seal Beach, CA. Sand berms on beaches and sand bags in front of buildings helped reduce coastal flooding impacts, however, high water inundated streets and homes in Seal Beach.

KGW in Portland, OR, put together a nice photo gallery of this event in Southern Cal. The gallery can be found at: http://www.kgw.com/picture-gallery/weather/2014/08/27/large-waves-from-marie-hit-california/14701063/

Here are some selected pictures:







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