Eye-popping satellite photo shows Tropical Storm Kay over Southern California
A massive supercell thunderstorm over Southern California has unleashed a violent windstorm, with a storm surge expected to make waves as high as 6 feet, The Associated Press reports.
Tropical storm is expected to come ashore as a category 4 hurricane, and will possibly bring with it wind gusts of up to 88 mph, the National Weather Service says.
The supercell is expected to continue moving east-northeast, though weaker-than-usual winds are expected to gradually shift south, according to the Weather Service.
The storm is currently moving at about 24 mph, with sustained winds from the southern extreme near 45 mph, the Weather Service said.
A supercell can develop in two ways. In a small region or a few strong cells, the supercell can grow even larger. In a large region, the winds can swirl around the center, forming a vortex and sometimes even generating high waves, as well as the supercell’s very powerful cyclical winds, which can be up to 100 mph.
There are several storm systems moving through the region, with the biggest already having left the coast.
On Friday, two more storm systems, one in the Gulf of Mexico and one over the Carolinas, caused scattered rain and some high winds.
In Los Angeles, the remnants of a tropical storm left rain over parts of the city from a line of storms that moved across the region on Wednesday. More than 2 feet fell in parts of Orange and Los Angeles counties, while 3.5 inches fell in Riverside.
“It was wet, but nothing like a flood,” said David Vetter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, California. “Mostly it was just rain.”
In San Diego County, a weather station reported flooding that soaked down to ankle-deep on Saturday morning.
Rainfall on Saturday peaked at 11 inches in the South Bay region with 3 inches in San Diego County.
At least two people were taken to hospitals as a result of the heavy rain, and four were transported to intensive care units.
“Several people got caught
