why does the west coast never experience hurricanes or devastating storms like the east coast?
361908
Because the west coast is being saved up for the BIG ONE (quake)
256868
Not at all true. Not only can they move west, there are sometimes tornadoes which don't spin counterclockwise.
78197
Anytime you ask statistical question such as this, you need data to figure out any kind of estimate.  One of the problems with any type of weather forecasting this far into the future is that there is not enough data to calculate, and hence, predict what will happen on a particular day in a particular area far months into the future.  \n\nAccording to the National Weather Service webpage for your area: "Hurricanes are products of an interaction between both the ocean and the atmosphere.  Fueled by energy from the warm ocean waters, they can be steered by the easterly trade winds, as well as the temperate westerlies.  Some hurricanes, especially strong ones, are even able to alter the environment that steers them.  This is a major reason why it can sometimes be very difficult to predict where a particular hurricane will track."\n\nUnfortunately, you are going to have to wait until Labor Day Weekend, 2006 to get your answer, but you can contact the Tampa Bay Weather Service Office if you would like to talk to a professional.
124844
To which hurricane are you referring to? Hurricanes never have done good. I have been through five or six in the past eleven years and it is not fun to sit through one worring if this is the worst of it. Evacuating is not much fun either as you worry if you have anything left. It is not only human lives that are disrupted or lost, but those of animals and the environment.
1075091
Thunderstorms require 2 things:\n* Moisture \n* Rapidly rising warm air\n\nWhile Southern California does have a source of moisture (the Pacific Ocean), it does not have the rapidly rising warm air (or unstable air) necessary for a thunderstorm.  The air over SoCal is generally stable.  It lifts when it gets to the mountains, which is one place where thunderstorms do occur.
718853
As much as I hate to contradict others, the East and West explanation is inaccurate. Hurricanes are in the Northern Hemisphere, while cyclones and typhoons are in the Southern Hemisphere. Another difference, which is caused by their location, is the direction in which they spin. The rotation of  the Earth causes hurricanes to spin counterclockwise, while cyclones go clockwise.
745942
Excellent question!!  And one which is never fully explained on any weather forecast/ weather station....\n\nWeather conditions are controlled by the air currents over the Pacific Ocean, for the most part, first of all.  You can watch typhoons or Pacific hurricanes travel westward, until they reach a landmass, then these low-pressure storms will turn North-Northeast and follow the jet stream, until they are turned South-southeast ward, and affect the U.S. northwest states, Washington, Oregon, California.....\n \nThese extra-tropical storms keep their strength as they travel around the path of the Northern jetstream, droping rain and producing winds not unlike a hurricane, as they follow the jetstream paths around the world.  \n\nAfter these storms, these Pineapple Expresses, have traversed the United States, they again gain strength over the Northern Atlantic ocean, and then let go of the precipatation over Britian and Europe, where the Original storm dies.....\n\nAgain, excellent question.  Hope this enlightens you!!
653800
Because when the storm forms, it forms from water that has evaporated from salt water. And the salt doesn't evaporate with the water.
1136089
I notice the Tropical Prediction Center issued a hurricane warning for part of Florida, though it is not quite a hurricane yet. That is standard procedure if it is expected to become a hurricane, but for tornadoes one must exist before the warning is issued.\n\nAlberto is not particularly impressive on satellite or radar images. There is nothing on the SW side because of wind shear. Yet with recon flights and winds from doppler radar, scatterometers, and microwave sounders - if there is a 65 knot wind somewhere in the storm they'll find it. So a category 1 hurricane aint what it used to be.\n\nThere will be heavy rain and severe storms associated with it. There will be very strong winds - probably hurricane force at some locations - directly along the coast S-E of the storm center. Yet there is no chance it will become anything more than a weak hurricane in a wind shear environment over oceans not particularly warm this time of year.\n\nThus people affected should definitely be prepared, but if it is hyped too much people are being setup for a strong storm some time later which they won't want to evacuate for but should.
573385
Hurricanes occurr in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Pacific.  Otherwise, they're the same.  Typhoones tend to be stronger than hurricanes since the Pacific has more areas of open water.  Typhoons are named independently of hurricanes.  If a hurricane passes through Central America, it becomes a typhoon and vica-versa.
373466
They don't. They can happen anytime. Cyclones or hurricanes last for several days and may arrive at a place in the day or night. Earthquakes can happen when the plates in the earth move. The Indian Ocean earthquake that caused the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami happened around 8.00 am in local time. Mudslides occur after heavy rain or snow,
1080731
Typhoons and hurricanes are the same type of storm - a tropical cyclone - just in different parts of the world.\n\nHowever... typhoons - which affect the western Pacific ocean - tend to be stronger than Atlantic hurricanes because the waters are warmer.
495512
The storms comparable to hurricanes that originate in the Pacific ocean are called typhoons.  \n\nI am sorry to say that it looks like Japan might have another very severe typhoon season this year.  In one very recent year they had far more than normal.\n\nOn rare occasions hurricanes can cross from the Carribean into the Pacific and regain strength becoming typhoons and vice versa.\n\nI believe they are called typhoons also when they hit China and the Philippines.\n\nFor Australia and India they are called cyclones, and that is also the generic name for all three.\n\nTyphoons can be the most spectacularly strong of all cyclones, and certainly hold the record for size.  Not difficult to understand when you consider the size of the Pacific Ocean and the fact that it is subject to heating as are the Atlantic and the Carribean, Gulf of Mexico.\n\nYou can monitor the potential for these by using the AVISO urls (sea level anomalies) found at my weather blog:\n\nhttp://360.yahoo.com/ki_te_moana\n\nThere is comprehensive weather info there if you take the time to delve into the blog and the Blog Roll.
801511
To get really good waves you need a sudden rise in sea floor elevation.  Florida is sitting in the middle of a giant underwater shelf... there is no real substantial change in the elevations of shelves to "bump" the water up high enough that it curls under its own weight and creates good surfing waves.  \n\nThe west coast (by comparison) gets good waves because there is very deep water right off the coast.  When the vertical column of water that creates a wave, encounters the sudden seafloor rise, it has nowhere to go but up.  This is only amplified by the fact that the prevailing winds across North America go west to east.
210575
actually yes they've been talking about this a lot recently in light of the last big tsunami. There's an island that's pretty much just a volcano (forget the name but you could find it easily) that the next time it erupts, it will lose some of it's mass into the ocean and cause a tsunami headed towards the East coast. AS far as the west coast goes, any tsunami generated here would be the sliding of the tectonic plates offshore. so if we have a heavy earthquake out there, the west coast would be hit.
49355
Well there are several possible explanations:\n\n1. It does not exist, but is just the result of confirmation bias. We only remember stories which confirm our preconceived notions, and forget the others. \n\n2. There are many dangerous waters there with reefs and rocks and islands, and many ships are destroyed this way. \n\n3. The topography of the area lends itself to occasional freakishly large waves which destroy ships. \n\n4. Methyl gas hydrates occasionally are released from the sea bed, causing ships to sink and planes to crash. \n\n5. It is a region with violent sudden storms like hurricanes.
348539
Both Hurricanes and Typhoons are tropical cyclones, though Hurricanes are Atlantic Ocean events while Typhoons are found in the Pacific.