- 1858 San Diego hurricane
Infobox Hurricane
Name=1858 San Diego Hurricane
Type=hurricane
Year=1858
Basin=Pcl
Formed=September 1858
Dissipated=October 2, 1858
1-min winds=75
Pressure=994 mbarcite journal |last=Chenoweth |first=Michael |authorlink= |coauthors=Landsea, Christopher |year=2004 |month= |title=The San Diego Hurricane of 2 October 1858 |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |volume=85 |issue=11 |pages=1689–1697 |doi=10.1175/BAMS-85-11-1689 |url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/chenowethlandsea.pdf |accessdate= |quote= ]
Da
Fatalities=Unknown
Areas=ExtremeSouthern California , northwesternMexico
Hurricane season=pre-1900 Pacific hurricane seasons The 1858 San Diego Hurricane was a very rareCalifornia hurricane. It is the only knowntropical cyclone to impact California as a hurricane, although other systems impacted California as tropical storms.Meteorological history
Sometime in September, a
hurricane formed in the EastPacific Ocean . Unlike most east Pacific storms, this one moved towards the north. OnOctober 2 , it nearedSouthern California while weakening and being sheared. It just missed making landfall, as it turned to the northwest. It approachedSanta Catalina Island in the Channel Islands and dissipated. There is some uncertainty to this reconstructed path.Impact
In
San Diego , the rain was very heavy, and the property damage was great, many homes lost their roofs, while a few homes even collapsed. In addition, trees were uprooted, and fences destroyed. A recently constructed windmill was also blown away completely. Three schooners, the "Plutus", the "Lovely Flora", and the "X.L." were blown ashore, though only the "X.L." suffered major damage.Rainfall in San Pedro was also heavy, but high winds were not reported. Parts of the embankment in the city were washed away, causing only around $100 ($Inflation|US|100|1858|r=2 today) in damage. [http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ The Inflation Calculator ] ] The yacht, "Medora", was washed ashore. Many reports claimed that the yacht was irreparable, but it was later claimed that the damage wasn't actually that great and could be repaired. A barge was destroyed, as was a large portion of the San Pedro wharf.
El Monte was buffeted by high winds, damaging corn crops and trees.Los Angeles and Visalia noted large amounts of rain, as much as convert|7|in|mm|abbr=off|lk=on, but low winds.In an estimate by
Michael Chenoweth andChristopher Landsea , if the storm would hit today, it would cause around $500 million in damage.http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/presentations/ams-sandiego.ppt#14]Rediscovery
Using newspaper accounts, two researchers with
NOAA , Christopher Landsea and Michael Chenoweth, reconstructed this hurricane. Its strong winds were mentioned in the folklore of the region.ee also
*
List of Pacific hurricanes
*List of California hurricanes References
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