A season of tropical storms and hurricanes with record-breaking energy in the Pacific Ocean is battering the Southern California coastline. <\/p>\n
Researchers at Colorado State University confirmed Monday that storms this summer have generated a higher level of accumulated cyclone energy than ever recorded, surpassing the prior seasonal record set in 2018. The metric is a measure of the total wind energy, intensity and duration of tropical storms and hurricanes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a wild season,\u201d said Daniel Cayan, a climate researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, noting that parts of Southern California\u2018s coast already have experienced significant damage ahead of any winter storms in store for the region amid the strongest El Ni\u00f1o on record.<\/p>\n
The historic Long Beach boardwalk buckled after a barrage of storms over the last month. As Tropical Storm Rachel approached the coast over the weekend, powerful waves slammed into oceanfront homes, leaving some on the verge of collapse.<\/p>\n
In Newport Beach, water from a massive swell \u2014 double the size that was initially predicted \u2014 blasted through 20-foot berms erected at the beach and inundated roads with about a foot of sea water ahead of Rachel\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere along the coast, the continuous battering from higher-than-normal ocean levels and strong waves this summer has washed away sand, profoundly altering the Wedge in Newport Beach, as well as beaches in San Onofre, Laguna Beach and San Clemente. The coastal damage has been so significant that Orange County declared an emergency last month.<\/p>\n
The exceptionally active hurricane season in the Pacific is influenced by several factors including a long-term ocean heating trend caused by global warming, and higher nearshore ocean temperatures and a decrease in wind shear from El Ni\u00f1o, which can significantly weaken hurricane activity, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist Daniel Swain explained during a recent webinar. <\/p>\n
\u201cEl Ni\u00f1o in the Pacific Basin decreases wind shear, so it removes the inhibitive storm-decapitating effect of wind shear at the same time that it amplifies water temperature,\u201d Swain said. \u201cSo it adds more fuel and it makes that fuel more likely to take advantage of its environment.\u201d <\/p>\n
Typically, once storms enter the cooler water in the eastern tropical Pacific, they weaken significantly. But the marine heat wave and El Ni\u00f1o conditions \u2014 bringing ocean temperatures 10 to 13 degrees higher than normal \u2014 have provided a more conducive environment for hurricanes such as Rachel to get close enough to affect the California coast.<\/p>\n