Hurricane Ramon was a very intense
Pacific hurricane whose remnants generated heavy rains in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. The 19th
named storm and final hurricane of the above-average
1987 Pacific hurricane season
The 1987 Pacific hurricane season was the last year in which the Eastern Pacific Hurricane Center was the primary warning center for tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The season officially started May 15, 1987, in the eastern Paci ...
, Ramon originated from a tropical disturbance that formed in early October. On October 5, a tropical storm had developed several hundred miles southwest of
Manzanillo, bypassing the tropical depression stage. Tropical Storm Ramon turned to the west-northwest after initially moving west. It intensified into a hurricane on October 7. Two days later, Hurricane Ramon peaked in intensity with winds of 140 mph (220 km/h). After peaking, Ramon turned to the northwest and rapidly weakened over cooler waters. It weakened into a tropical storm on October 11 and a depression on October 12. Ramon dissipated shortly thereafter. While at sea, Ramon brought light rainfall to the
Baja California Peninsula. The remnants of Hurricane Ramon produced heavy rainfall that caused flooding in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, indirectly contributing to five traffic-related fatalities. Rainfall was reported as far inland as
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
.
Meteorological history
Hurricane Ramon originated from a tropical disturbance that was situated south of a large
ridge
A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...
over Central
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. The disturbance became better organized while traversing waters and at 1800
UTC on October 5, the
Eastern Pacific Hurricane Center The Eastern Pacific Hurricane Center was formerly the center responsible for forecasting Pacific hurricanes in the eastern north Pacific east of 140°W. It was part of the Weather Bureau Forecast Office San Francisco and was based in Redwood City ...
(EPHC) upgraded the disturbance into a tropical storm while centered about southwest of
Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
.
Initially, the storm was expected to move west and not affect land; however, this did not occur.
After being named, Tropical Storm Ramon held onto marginal tropical storm intensity for 24 hours. Thereafter, Tropical Storm Ramon turned west-northwestward and began to intensity. At 1200 UTC on October 7, the EPHC reported that Ramon had intensified into a hurricane. About 24 hours later, the system was upgraded into a Category 2 hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS). Rapidly intensifying, Ramon reached major hurricane status on October 8 (Category 3 or higher on the SSHWS). At 0600 UTC on October 9, Ramon was upgraded into a Category 4 hurricane while reaching its peak intensity of 140 mph (220 km/h),
which it maintained for 24 hours.
After attaining peak intensity, Hurricane Ramon began to weaken. Late on October 10, Ramon weakened slightly while turning northwest. The following morning, the storm reportedly weakened into a Category 2. Hurricane Ramon began to rapidly deteriorate due to a combination of
jetstream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents in the Earth's atmosphere.
The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the globe. The northern hemisphere and th ...
interactions and increasingly cold
sea-surface temperatures.
At 0600 UTC on October 11, the storm was downgraded into a Category 1 on the SSHWS after bypassing the Category 2 stage. It weakened into a tropical storm later that day and was further downgraded to a tropical depression on October 12. Tropical Depression Ramon dissipated on 0600 UTC that day. The remnant moisture of this hurricane later moved into
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
, resulting in record rains.
Preparations and impact
Although Hurricane Ramon was far from the state of California at that time, a
flash flood watch
A flash flood watch ( SAME code: FFA; also referred as a "green box" by meteorologists) is severe weather watch product of the National Weather Service that is issued when conditions are favorable for flash flooding in flood-prone areas, usually ...
was issued for southern
Orange,
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, western
San Bernardino and
Riverside counties, citing uncertainty in the storm's path.
Additionally, "alerts" were also posted over a wide area that included the
Santa Ana Mountains
The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riversid ...
, the
Laguna Mountains,
Lake Arrowhead, and
Joshua Tree National Monument.
While still at sea, the storm produced high waves along the Pacific coast in the Baja California Peninsula;
Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas (, "Luke the Evangelist, Saint Luke Cape (geography), Cape"), also known simply as Cabo, is a Resort town, resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, in the Mexican Political divisions of Mexico, state of Baja ...
reported waves high.
The
outer rainband's of Hurricane Ramon brought scattered showers to the region.
The remnants of this storm caused extremely heavy rains across
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
,
peaking at in
Camp Pendelton. A total of of rain was reported in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, resulting in street flooding.
Torrential rainfall was recorded in San Diego County, where two people died in separate traffic accidents. Further north, in the city of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, three more people perished in separate traffic incidents.
Heavy rains extended west and was also reported in
Hemet in
Riverside County,
where three people were also injured during a car accident.
The rains caused a week-long forest fire 16,000 acre (65,000,000 m
2) on
Mt. Palomar to dissolve.
Several streets were closed in
Orange County and
San Diego County
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...
. One library's roof leaked, as such, books had to be covered for protection. Furthermore, the
Spring Creek River overflowed its banks. Elsewhere, the moisture spread rains to
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
,
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
,
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
, and southwestern
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
.
The tropical moisture also helped end a 37-day dry spell in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, marking the longest time the city went without rain since 1964. Nationwide, Ramon killed five people, all due to road-related incidents.
See also
*
Other storms named Ramon
*
List of California hurricanes
Since 1854, at least 100 tropical cyclones affected the U.S. state of California, including 1858 San Diego hurricane, a hurricane in 1858 that produced hurricane-force winds near San Diego. This averages to roughly once a year, although events ...
*
Hurricane Ismael (1983)
*
List of Category 4 Pacific hurricanes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurricane Ramon
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