Los Angeles Times - 26.08.2019

B2 MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2019 LATIMES.COM

For Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019

SuperLotto Plus
Mega number is bold

4-6-14-24-45—Mega 21
Jackpot:$7 million

Winners per category:
No. of
winners

Amount
of prize(s)
5 + Mega 0 —
50—
4 + Mega 5 $3,
4 272 $
3 + Mega 425 $
3 12,294 $
2 + Mega 5,533 $
1 + Mega 26,184 $
Mega only 40,021 $

Powerball
Powerball number is bold

5-12-20-21-47—Powerball 1
Jackpot:$50 million

California winners per category:
No. of
winners

Amount
of prize(s)
5 + P-ball 0 —
50—
4 + P-ball 2 $11,
4 51 $
3 + P-ball 67 $
3 2,524 $
2 + P-ball 1,566 $
1 + P-ball 11,254 $
P-ball only 24,872 $
Winning jackpot ticket(s) sold in other
states: None

For Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019

Fantasy Five: 7-16-23-25-

Daily Four: 6-6-6-

Daily Three(midday): 4-2-

Daily Three(evening): 7-4-

Daily Derby:
(8) Gorgeous George
(10) Solid Gold
(1) Gold Rush
Race time: 1:48.

Results on the internet:
http://www.latimes.com/lottery
General information:
(800) 568-
(Results not available at this number)

Lottery results

September 1939 was a
stormy month on the world
stage. On Sept. 1, Hitler in-
vaded Poland. On Sept. 3,
Britain, France, Australia
and New Zealand responded
by declaring war on Ger-
many. In Los Angeles that
month, as residents sweated
through an unusual heat
wave and nervously watched
the storm clouds of World
War II gathering overseas,
four tropical cyclones that
would affect Southern Cali-
fornia were born in the east-
ern North Pacific.
No tropical cyclones had
made it north of 25 degrees
latitude in the northeastern
Pacific Basin during all of
1937 and 1938. Then, in 1939,
there were four such storms
in the space of a month, in-
cluding an unnamed tropi-
cal storm that came ashore
in San Pedro, dropping tor-
rential rain totaling 5.
inches on Los Angeles from
Sept. 24 to 26.
It battered Southern Cal-
ifornia with wind gusts to 65
mph, according to the Los
Angeles Times, damaging
boats, structures, utility
lines and crops. Forty-five
people were killed by flood-
ing throughout Southern
California, and an additional
48 died at sea. It’s the only
tropical storm to make land-
fall in California during the
20th century.
That was 80 years ago
next month, during the El
Niño of 1939-40. Storms such
as this have been given the
name El Cordonazo de San
Francisco by fishermen in
the villages along the Pacific
Coast of Mexico. The name
means “the Lash of St. Fran-
cis,” because they occur in
the fall, close to the Oct. 4
feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
As retired Jet Propulsion
Laboratory climatologist
Bill Patzert points out, the
eastern side of these Cor-
donazo storms would se-
verely lash the communities
on the Pacific Coast of Cen-
tral America from southern
Mexico to Baja. For cen-
turies, the damage was bru-
tal. The Cordonazo lash isn’t
felt so harshly or frequently
in Southern California.
Popular explanations
suggested that St. Francis
used his belt or cord to hit
the clouds and make them
dump their heavy rain, pro-
ducing lightning and thun-
der. The Cordonazo season
marks the beginning of the
end of the rainy season in
Central America. Some sto-
ries have St. Francis driving
out the devil with his cord,
resulting in big storms,
thunder and lightning as the
devil was chased back into
hell.
When people think of
hurricanes, many think of
the Gulf of Mexico, the Ca-
ribbean Sea and the U.S.

Eastern Seaboard — in fact,

the word comes from “Huri-

can,” the Carib Indian name

for the god of evil — but the

most active hurricane re-

gion in the world is the west-

ern North Pacific, an area re-

sponsible for one-third of

the planet’s annual average

of 79 tropical cyclones.

The second-most prolific

hurricane-producing area is

the eastern North Pacific,

averaging 13 storms per year.

It is in this part of the world

that L.A.’s September 1939

storm was born.

Hurricanes, cyclones and

typhoons are different

names for the same type of

rapidly rotating tropical sys-

tem. Cyclonic rotation is

counterclockwise in the

Northern Hemisphere and

clockwise in the Southern

Hemisphere. The storms are

known as hurricanes in the

Atlantic and the eastern

North Pacific; they’re called

typhoons in the northwest-

ern Pacific and tropical cy-

clones in the southwestern

Pacific and the Indian

Ocean. All hurricanes are cy-

clones, but not all cyclones

are hurricanes.

Tropical cyclones derive

their strength from sea sur-

face temperatures of at least

80 degrees Fahrenheit. Most

storms that form in the trop-

ical eastern North Pacific

are carried by steering cur-

rents in a northwesterly di-

rection, where they die out

over cooler waters north of

the 30th parallel. Most that

head west don’t make it to

Hawaii before fizzling out,

although they may delight

Southern California surfers

with big waves on south-

west-facing beaches. They

may also send some humid-

ity, clouds or precipitation

toward the region.

Occasionally, tropical cy-

clones curve northward,

hugging the coast of Baja

California or turning inland.

These are the Cordonazo

storms.

The first of the series of

September 1939 storms

formed in the Pacific about

500 miles southwest of

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on

Sept. 2, and made a beeline

northward toward Yuma,

Ariz., where it dropped 4.

inches of rain on Sept. 4-6. In

California, Needles got more

than 5 inches of rain and

Brawley 6.43 inches.

On Sept. 5, two more

tropical cyclones were born

about 1,000 miles apart in

the warm waters west of

Central America. They fol-

lowed similar paths along

the western coast of Mexico,

dying out about a week later

over central and southern

Baja California. But they

sent a plume of tropical

moisture north into the Col-

orado Desert, which is part

of the Sonoran Desert in

southeastern California,

southwestern Arizona and

northwestern Mexico.

The fourth in that series

of storms — what would be a

long-lived Cordonazo —

formed around Sept. 15 in

the waters off Central

America and quickly inten-

sified, reaching its lowest

pressure of 970.9 millibars on

Sept. 22, when it was about

300 miles west-southwest of

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

As the storm churned

northward, Southern Cali-

fornia broiled under a torrid

heat wave, with a recorded

temperature of 107.2 degrees

in Los Angeles on Sept. 20.

On Sept. 23, the tempera-

ture reached 100 degrees at

the federal building down-

town. About 4:40 p.m., a light

rain fell, cooling the city

slightly. That same day, a

thunderstorm dumped 6.

inches of rain in six hours on

Indio, Calif. Moisture from

one of the two previous cy-

clones that had broken up a

week earlier south of Ense-

nada, Mexico, may have fu-

eled that thunderstorm.

After days of intense

heat, ominous clouds thick-

ened over L.A. on the after-

noon of Sept. 24 as the fourth

tropical storm deteriorated

off Santa Catalina Island.

The cloud cover pulled the

daytime high temperature

down to 81 degrees. A cooling

southeasterly breeze arose

around noon, lowering the

mercury to 67 degrees by 5

p.m. That’s when the rain

began. And those cooling

southeasterly winds would

gust to 50 mph by 7 p.m.

Rain intensified

overnight and was especially

heavy from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. on

Sept. 25. The rain let up from

10:15 a.m. until 5:35 p.m. that

day, then resumed and con-

tinued through 1:15 a.m.

Sept. 26.

According to The Times,

“The storm smashed vessels

against piers, breakwaters

and beaches in a tragic end

to Southern California’s

worst heat wave.” When it

was over, damage to boats,

structures, power and

phone lines was extensive,

exceeding $1.5 million. Crop

damage amounted to

$500,000. Half of the San

Clemente Pier in southern

Orange County was washed

away. ($1 million in 1939 is

equivalent to nearly $18 mil-

lion in 2019.)

Rainfall amounts were

impressive: Long Beach re-

ported 4.51 inches; Clare-

mont, 4.89; the Santa Ana

River, 4.41. Mt. Wilson re-

ceived 11.60 inches over three

days, with 9.02 inches of that

on Sept. 24.

The heat wave and the

tropical storm were prob-

ably related. As Daniel

Swain, a climate scientist at

UCLA, says, the storm not

only broke the heat wave, it

also played a significant part

in creating it. Counterclock-

wise circulation around the

cyclone as it approached

from the south generated

strong east-to-northeast

downsloping offshore winds

that drove up temperatures

in the L.A. Basin through

compression heating. These

winds were similar to the re-

gion’s autumn and winter

Santa Anas, but with a dif-

ferent origin.

For more than a quarter-

century after that, no tropi-

cal cyclone reached South-

ern California, although

some remnants came close.

Could a full-blown hurri-

cane hit California? It’s not

likely. Patzert says the “odds

are infinitesimal — so small

that everyone should just re-

lax.”

There are no docu-

mented cases of a hurricane

making landfall in the Gold-

en State. Unlike the eastern

U.S., where the warm Gulf

Stream flows northward

along the Atlantic Coast, the

California Current carries

cool water southward along

the West Coast. It literally

throws cold water in the face

of any tropical cyclones ap-

proaching the California

coast and the coast of north-

ern Baja California.

In addition, the upper-

level winds known as

steering currents tend to

carry storms to the west and

northwest, out into the Pa-

cific and away from Califor-

nia. At lower levels of the at-

mosphere off the California

coast, prevailing winds are

northwesterly, creating ver-

tical wind shear that rips

hurricanes apart. These

northwesterly winds near

the surface also promote up-

welling, pulling cool water

from the deep and pushing

warmer coastal water off-

shore, creating a less-hospi-

table environment for tropi-

cal cyclones.

Downward motion in the

atmosphere off the coast of

Southern California, as op-

posed to upward motion vi-

tal to the formation of

thunderstorms, also dis-

courages formation or con-

tinuation of cyclones. This

downward motion is associ-

ated with June gloom along

the California coast, Swain

said.

Nevertheless, against

these odds, a number of Cor-

donazo storms have taken

advantage of less common

atmospheric conditions and

turned northward. Storms

usually weaken at about

Cabo San Lucas in their

northward trek, but a storm

that is strong enough and

moving fast enough could

continue. Here’s a possible

scenario, as proposed by

Swain: In September, per-

haps during a strong El Niño

year, with warm waters in

the Southern California

Bight, a strong hurricane

forms in the Pacific south-

east of Cabo San Lucas. It’s a

Category 4 or 5 in these

warm waters.

Meanwhile, a weak or

modest early season North

Pacific storm swings out of

the Gulf of Alaska, bringing

light rain to Portland, Seat-

tle and Northern California.

The influence of the low sys-

tem to the north causes the

hurricane to turn to the

north, quickly dropping to a

Category 2 or 3 in intensity.

Storms have been known to

backtrack or loop — or even

stand still.

By the time the storm

reaches the Southern Cali-

fornia Bight, it is no more

than a Category 1 or, more

likely, a tropical storm. But

tropical storms pack a con-

siderable wallop in terms of

precipitation — as we saw in

1939 — and can generate

strong, gale-force winds.

No full-blown hurricane

is likely to make landfall in

Southern California, al-

though on Oct. 2, 1858, dur-

ing a moderate El Niño year,

a hurricane brushed San Di-

ego before moving off to the

west-northwest. It is

thought that this was a Cat-

egory 1 storm at the time.

Heavy rain and strong winds

were reported both in San

Diego and the Los Angeles

area. Numerous tropical cy-

clones have followed the

Cordonazo pattern over the

years and have affected

Southern California and the

Southwest. Here are some

examples:

Kathleen, Sept. 10, 1976:

The first tropical cyclone to

hit Southern California after

the 1939 storm 37 years earli-

er, Kathleen dumped 10.

inches of rain on Mt. Wilson.

Mt. San Gorgonio northwest

of Palm Springs received 14.

inches; Lake Arrowhead re-

ported 8.71 inches; and the

Civic Center in downtown

Los Angeles got 1.98 inches.

It was during an El Niño.

According to The Times,

the storm killed at least six

and wreaked widespread de-

struction in the Imperial

Valley and adjoining areas.

Ocotillo, near the Mexican

border, was hardest hit. A

flash flood sent a wall of wa-

ter 6 feet high and a half-mile

wide through the city; 20

homes were destroyed and

70 were badly damaged — at

the time, the city had just 100

homes. The Coachella Valley

and Palm Desert were de-

clared disaster areas by Riv-

erside County authorities;

property damage was set at

$10 million, with 300 homes

damaged or destroyed in

Palm Springs.

Remnants of Kathleen

generated heavy rain and

strong winds as far north as

Oregon, Idaho and Mon-

tana.

Doreen, Aug. 14-17, 1977:

The storm was born 100

miles west of Acapulco,

again during an El Niño, on

Aug.11 and became a tropical

storm on Aug. 13. It reached

hurricane status on Aug. 14,

shortly before passing 30

miles west of Cabo San Lu-

cas. August is usually a dry

month in Southern Califor-

nia, but San Diego received

2.13 inches of rain; L.A., 2.

inches; Calexico, 3.78 inches;

Imperial, 3.87 inches; and

7.45 inches at Mt. San Ja-

cinto, west of Palm Springs.

Damage was extensive, es-

pecially to agriculture in San

Diego and Imperial coun-

ties, and the desert town of

Ocotillo was flooded again.

Norman, Sept. 6, 1978:

For the third consecutive

year, the deserts of Southern

California saw flooding

when the remnants of Hurri-

cane Norman dissipated off

San Clemente Island.

Olivia, Sept. 26, 1982:

Heavy rain caused $300 mil-

lion in agricultural damage

when remnants of Hurri-

cane Olivia plowed into the

coast near Santa Barbara.

This was also during an El

Niño year. Moisture from the

storm continued inland and

eventually flooded parts of

Salt Lake City.

In early September 1997,

another El Niño year, Hurri-

cane Linda, one of the

strongest eastern Pacific

hurricanes on record, men-

aced Los Angeles. Had it hit

the state, as had been pre-

dicted, it would have been

the strongest storm to make

landfall in Southern Califor-

nia since the September 1939

Cordonazo storm.

Yuma, on the Colorado

River, receives a sizable por-

tion of its rainfall from dying

tropical cyclones. Yuma may

experience more storms,

making it a sort of hurricane

alley, because unlike coastal

San Diego and Los Angeles

— situated on the cool Pa-

cific — it sits just 70 miles

north of the bathtub-warm

Gulf of California, where

summertime water temper-

atures can reach 90 degrees.

This is exactly the kind of

fuel that can give a dying

tropical storm a new lease on

life.

If there is a silver lining to

the September 1939 Cordon-

azo tropical event, it’s that

before the storm, there

wasn’t a government fore-

cast office in L.A. Because

Southern Californians were

so woefully unprepared for

such a storm, a Weather Bu-

reau office was established

in February 1940.

Times staffers Thomas Suh

Lauder, Maloy Moore, Cary

Schneider and Scott

Harrison contributed to this

report.

The year L.A. felt Cordonazo’s blow

Tropical cyclones in the Pacific Basin rarely make it to California. In 1939, there were four in one month.

BATTERED BY HIGH SEASand 60-mph winds, the 247-foot fishing barge Minnie A. Caine washed ashore

off Sunset Boulevard north of Santa Monica on Sept. 24, 1939. The six-member crew was rescued.

Los Angeles Times

L

How it could happen

Sources: Bill Patzert, retired NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory climatologist; Daniel

Swain, UCLA climate scientist; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

“Tropical Cyclone Effects on California,” NOAA report by Arnold Court; National

Weather Service

PD

Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Path of tropical

storm that

made landfall

Sept. 24-26, 1939

Cabo

San Lucas

PortlandPortland

SeattleSeattle

Category 1 or 2

23.5° N

TROPIC OF CANCER

Early season

storm from the

Gulf of Alaska

U.S.

MEXICO

U.S.

MEXICO

U.S.U.S.

CANADACANADA

CALIF.

CALIF.

CALIF.

Baja

California

Puerto

Vallarta

Acapulco

Los Angeles ARIZ.ARIZ.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles

YumaYuma

Path of

Sept. 4-6 storm

Path of

Sept. 4-6 storm

Olivia

Sept. 26, 1982

Doreen

Aug. 14-17, 1977

Norman

Sept. 6, 1978

Kathleen

Sept. 10, 1976

Could a hurricane lash L.A.?

A full-blown hurricane is unlikely to make landfall in

California, but a Cordonazo tropical storm did in 1939.

A low system off the Pacific Northwest coast may influence

the track of a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific Basin.

Close calls

Examples of Cordonazo storms that affected the state.

By Paul Duginski

THE SEPT. 25, 1939,front page of The Times with

stories about the tropical storm that battered the

Southland. It damaged boats, utility lines and crops.

Los Angeles Times