Why is there no hurricanes on west cost U.S.A?

Question

Why is there no hurricanes on west cost U.S.A?

Answer 1

For much the same reason Europe doesn't get them.  The ocean currents are different on the eastern coast of the ocean than they are on the western.

The Pacific does get hurricanes, but they occur further south than our west coast.  It also gets typhoons, which are like hurricanes only worse.  They occur on the western coasts of the Pacific.

Hurricanes need a lot of warm water and open sea to build up the strength they need to become a major storm.  There just is no place upcurrent of the California coast that is that kind of hurricane breeding ground.

Answer 2

Because they're called typhoons..

Answer 3

We're just cool like that

Answer 4

There have been.

Answer 5

Water temp and oceanic flows.

Answer 6

On the Pacific, they are called "cyclones." <}:-})

Answer 7

Hurricanes tend to originate in the warm waters of the Eastern Atlantic and move west.  Similarly, in the Pacific they tend to originate in the east and move, as typhoons, to the west away from the U.S.  It has to do with the rotation of the earth, almost as though the storm was remaining still and the globe moving beneath it.  Occasionally a Pacific storm moves up the west coast and even rarer hits Lower Calif. and the Pac. w. coast.

Answer 8

they have them, they are just called a different name. east coast= hurricanes, west coast= typhoons

Answer 9

Atlantic coast hurricanes actually form off Africa and go East to West (opposite normal weather).      If this is the case for all hurricanes, it does not happen because the west coast has land for 3000 miles to the east of it.

Pacific ocean tropical storms would be called Typhoons and Indian ocean tropical storms are called Cyclones as a side note.

Answer 10

its because the climate isnt as moist as in the southern gulf of mexico region and along the coastle south. youre lucky though i live on the coastline and in a flood zone so count your blessings

Answer 11

There are, but they are very rare. One passed by San Diego in 1858.  Another storm, Kathleen, was near hurricane strength when it went into the Southern California deserts in 1976.

The reason there are not more is because on west coasts the predominant currents are from the north, and therefor cool; on east coasts they are from the south, and warm.  Hurricanes need water temperatures over 80 F to thrive.

By the way, in the Eastern Pacific they are definitely called hurricanes, not typhoons.

Answer 12

the jetstream doesnt flow eastward it flows westward

Answer 13

There are a lot more hurricanes on the East Coast, because air and water currents move clockwise in the northern hemisphere.

Hurricanes form in the ocean near the equator.  Ones that form in the northern hemisphere are carried clockwise by air currents above whatever ocean they form in

In the Atlantic Ocean, hurricanes are blown from the tropics to the East Coast of the USA.

In the Pacific Ocean, hurricanes form in the tropics near Mexico and occasionally southern California, and are blown away to the west.  Since the Pacific is so big, they usually dissipate before hitting Asia.

For California to get a hurricane, the hurricane has to form near California and not get blown away quickly, whereas on the East Coast they build up while traveling the Atlantic and then hit the East Coast.

Answer 14

because of the cold waters and they're called hurricanes because in the west coast of central America they're called hurricanes

Answer 15

On the west coast, there are almost never Typhoons OR Hurricanes OR Cyclones.... because the weather pattern usually drives hurricanes (same thing as typhoon).. Away from the coast. Not only that, any that are driven towards the coast will die quick because the water current of the pacific ocean brings relatively cold waters down the coast of California... which stamp out anything that tries to cross it. Only very VERY rarely will a hurricane come to landfall on the west coast of the USA, but it happens far more often on the west coast of Mexico (south) and baha California.

age 19

Answer 16

we do get some tornadoes at times, but really it is the way the mountains shield us from such things, and the hurricanes generally come out of the Atlantic ocean, and head for Bermuda or other areas there, like the Gulf of Mexico.

http://www.fema.gov/kids/hurr.htm

Answer 17

Simple answer, hurricanes need a source of warm water to obtain their strength; water temperatures of at least about 77 degrees.  Due to the Alaskan current which runs down the west coast of the U.S., the water temperature is simply too cold to allow a tropical system to strengthen, and those that wander northward from the warmer tropical waters off the Mexican coast quickly weaken upon moving over those colder waters.

Answer 18

the water temp.....and they have hurricanes but they are called typhoons