Rain lingers over parts of California from big, slow-moving storm systems that roll through from the west and east.
This photo at the top shows two large cyclones, Wolf and Nor’easter, in the same region, where storm systems from the Pacific Ocean flow in to the coast. The left picture shows the huge, rotating storm systems that dominate the West Coast in the winter. In contrast, the right picture shows the smaller, more intense storms that pop up in the fall and winter on the East Coast, where the Pacific Ocean flows from north to south through the Atlantic Ocean. The two storms to the right, Wolf and Nor’easter, are the largest of the year, producing winds of 65 to 80 mph.
At their closest approach, Wolf and Nor’easter produced winds of 50 to 65 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) “track summary.” In the first week of October, Wolf produced winds of 50 to 60 mph, as measured by the NHC.
Wolf was just one of at least 12 to 15 storms that tracked into California over the weekend. According to the NHC, Wolf produced sustained winds of 58 to 70 mph at the height of its strongest winds. It also produced gusts up to 70 mph.
Nor’easter was the other storm to cross into California over the weekend. It produced sustained winds of 65 to 80 mph at the time of its strongest winds, and gusts of 70 to 80 mph after it lifted to the surface.
Neither system threatened any major areas, according to the NHC. However, it was significant on several levels.
Wolf was the second of two severe storms to cross into northern California in less than 24 hours. Nor’easter was the latest storm of a powerful system that had been slowly moving across the west coast since October 2. On Tuesday, October 7, 2015, Nor’easter was the first storm of this storm system to