Where did the storm waves that hit the California coast in December originate from?
153582
most southern facing beaches receive their high surf from storm off of Baja.  I doubt there would have been enough bounce from the Alaska storms.
284940
Totally false.  Waves do occur in ponds and lakes.\n\nIn fact, any really experienced sailor can tell you that when the wind is blowing strongly, shallow waters are more dangerous thaan deep ociean waters.\n\nFifty foot waves can and do occur in the Great Lakes.  Many ships, boats, and lives have been lost, especially during November.\n\nThe big waves in the Great Lakes come crashing ashore, against piers, and against the shoreline ice barrier that forms during winter.\n\nThey are as spectacular as many typical ocean waves, but it is true that you can get even bigger waves from the ocean, such as the ones used by surfers in Hawaii.
1081932
First off, Cocoa Beach has claim to some serious surf cred, regardless of the size of the waves. It's where Kelly Slater, 7-time world surfing champion, grew up and learned to surf. \n\nBut in the middle of summer, the waves are usually on the small side. Here's the Surfline surf report for today:\n\n"1-2 ft - ankle to knee high with occasional 3 ft. and poor+ conditions."\n\nJust wait until hurricane season gets going though...
642415
Typhoons occur in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean; Hurricanes occur in the Atlantic Ocean.
181219
This is too much for asking here.  You need to go to the Library and ask a reference librarian to steer you to\n book(s) with wind patterns and ocean currents. You might find it on the Web, but a good atlas that include this information will be easier to understand and find.  \n\nPS  When you are asking a question that is scientific in nature be sure to use correct grammer.  I am not sure what location goes with another or if they are separate. Use correct grammer relating to commas for a series. Cali? Is that the abbreviation for California?  No, the abbreviation is CA now, although before the Post Office got involved it was usually Cal.  Cali is slang.
885752
somewhere out there! lol\nin a place where there's a typhoon or storm!
67084
By definition, a hurricane is fierce rotating storm with an intense centre of low pressure that only happens in the tropics. In south-east Asia they're known as typhoons and in the Indian Ocean, cyclones.\nThey cause high winds, huge waves, and heavy flooding. One of the most powerful of all weather systems, hurricanes are powered by the heat energy released by the condensation of water vapour. However, the conditions have to be exact for a hurricane to form, with the sea's surface temperature being above 26.5°C.\n\nStorm surge\nThis is caused by the intense low pressure at the eye of a hurricane, combining with the effect of strong winds. The sea rises 1cm for every millibar of pressure - if the pressure is 930 millibar, the sea surge will be about 80 cm. Hurricanes can raise the seas surface by as much as 4m.\n\nThe hurricane winds push the surge along in front of its path. When this surge hits low-lying coasts, the effects can be devastating. In addition to the sea surge, flooding can also result from torrential rain falling from the storm clouds.\n\nTsunamis\nA tsunami (pronounced tsoo-nah-mee) is a chain of fast moving waves caused by sudden trauma in the ocean. They can be generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or even the impact of meteorites. Tsunami are also incorrectly known as tidal waves, but unlike tidal waves they are not caused by changes in the tides.\n\nThey are most common around the edge of the Pacific, where more than half of the world's volcanoes are found. These seismic surges can assault coastlines, often with little or no warning. Rocks weighing as much as 20 metric tonnes have been plucked from sea walls and carried 180m inland. \n\nWave power\nTsunamis aren't like wind-generated waves that rhythmically roll onto a beach. A tsunami can have a wavelength (ie distance between wave crests) in excess of 100km (60 miles) and there may be an hour between them. They travel at great speeds across an ocean with hardly any energy losses and are barely noticeable out at sea.\n\nOver the deep Pacific Ocean, a tsunami travels at about 800kph (500mph). If an earthquake happened in Los Angeles, a tsunami could hit Tokyo quicker than you could fly between the cities by jet. The tsunami caused by the earthquake off the coast of Indonesia in late 2004 travelled 4,500km (2,800 miles) to Somalia in East Africa in just seven hours.\n\nAs a tsunami leaves the deep water of the open ocean and travels into the shallower water near the coast, it behaves like a normal wave - only with more muscle.\n\nShallow water slows the tsunami and its height grows. Tsunamis batter the coast with tremendous amounts of energy. They can strip sand from beaches, tearing up trees, and even obliterating whole towns. Some have been known to reach as much as 30m above sea level. \n\n\nThe only way they may be alike is that because of a Hurricane, you might have huge waves, but still, waves generated by Tsunami would be larger.
216133
Well most (but not all) U.S. hurricanes are caused by heated water near Africa evaporating and rising quickly to form a localized storm cell. These occur in regular tropical waves, which is why hurricanes arrive at intervals. The initial storm cell is pushed west towards the U.S.A. by easterly winds and as it moves the storm can pick up more energy from warm water and combine with other unorganized storms, growing in intensity. It becomes a hurricane when it develops multiple cells and its windspeeds are over 74 miles an hour. It then can be pushed around by large air masses and other pressure zones and winds, usually it gets directed northward as it approaches the U.S. because of high pressure zones like the one around Bermuda (the Bermuda high). Depending on the exact location of these pressure zones and their intensities, the hurricane can be directed up early and miss the U.S., or up into Florida, or in the case of Katrina, into the Gulf of Mexico and then up between Mississippi and Louisiana. Once the hurricane comes onshore, it loses energy quickly as water starts to rain out and reverse the low pressure zones at the center and between the cells of the hurricane. It eventually dies but not before causing lots of wind and water (flood) damage.
881749
Earthquake any day!  I used to live in California - they are not so bad but Tornados scare the bejesus out me!
51192
All waves go outward from their source, they don't all go straight to the beach, that's just the only place you can see them.  Waves originate from wind and other forces causing water particles to build up and roll over and on top of one another...they are usually not very noticable until they come closer to shore and the compression between the particles is sent upward.
361045
Hurricane/Storm Differences\n\nHurricane is the name given to violent storms that originate over the tropical or subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, or North Pacific Ocean east of the International Date Line. Such storms over the North Pacific west of the International Date Line are called typhoons; those elsewhere are known as tropical cyclones, which is the general name for all such storms including hurricanes and typhoons. These storms can cause great damage to property and loss of human life due to high winds, flooding, and large waves crashing against shorelines. \n\nStorm is an atmospheric disturbance in the form of strong winds usually accompanied by rain, snow, or other precipitation and sometimes accompanied by lightning or thunder.\nstorms characterized by area of low atmospheric pressure surrounded by a wind system and often accompanied by rain,storm characterized by extreme cold, strong winds, and heavy snowfall,destructive, violently whirling wind incorporating a funnel-shaped cloud,electrical discharge in the atmosphere often accompanied by thunder
495585
Don't know. But they were in California where it started. Check their website!
1008351
Santa Ana Winds:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_wind
1121288
Probably in Cali.  Just a guess.
229514
There are no hurricanes or typhoons on the western American coast to speak of because the sea water there is a lot colder than the caribbean and Atlantic nearby. It is the uptake of warm water which makes ordinary low pressure areas into hurricanes.\n\nOn the Asian shores of the Pacific Ocean, there are several warm (and comparatively shallow) seas which give regular rise to typhoons, following much the same rules as hurricanes.
139971
Some flash floods possible for California right now.  Definitely expect some flooding this year in other places, coinciding with snow melt, possibly aggravated by rain.\n\nNova Scotia and other typical places along the USA-Canada border need to remain watchful.\n\nSome torrential rains expected this year in the USA.  Will be easier to predict where as the conditions develop.\n\nRivers over embankments, yes.\n\nPossible extreme heat conditons during the summer.  This also increases the likelihood of brown outs and power failures.\n\nI am expecting more trouble in the West than in the East this time around, but this is only a general feeling I have about the climatic conditions.\n\nThe only other remarkable expectation is for a very strong tornado season.  And these HAVE been occuring more easterly in recent years.\n\nI would not be surprised to see New York tornadoes.\n\nThere are suggestions for better housing at:\n\nhttp://360.yeahoo.com/ki_te_moana\n\nIf you are from California, how is the Russian River doing about now?
421422
It is raining so much in California this year because there is a big storm brewing up near Hawaii. This is a La Nina weather pattern, and it is expected to continue for up to three months.