Is Southern California about to get a rare weather event? Some meteorologists think that Hurricane John, currently rampaging through Cabo San Lucas, may go as far north as Los Angeles.
From Wikipedia:
1939 Long Beach Tropical Storm
The 1939 Long Beach Tropical Storm, once a hurricane, was the only Eastern Pacific tropical storm to hit California in known history. The only other tropical cyclone to directly affect California is the 1858 San Diego Hurricane.
Storm History
On September 15, a tropical depression formed off the coast of Panama. It quickly strengthened into a hurricane. It tracked northward, instead of the usual westward movement of a typical Eastern Pacific hurricane. The hurricane likely was strong, as it needed to maintain its winds to a northerly latitude. The hurricane’s minimum measured pressure of 28.67 in Hg occurred on September 22. An upper level trough turned it to the northeast, where it weakened due to the cool waters.
Shortly before making landfall on September 25, it weakened to a tropical storm. The storm still managed to hit Long Beach, California as a 50 mph tropical storm, making it the only tropical cyclone in recorded history to hit the state of California. The storm quickly weakened over land, and likely dissipated within a day or two.
My Mom was a 19-year-old newlywed living in Long Beach at the time. She used to tell me about the great hurricane of ’39 and embellish her recount with tales of power blackouts with shutters and screen doors blown off of her house.