Some Relief for California?

Courtesy: www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu

We've been watching the Eastern Pacific here in the First Warn Weather Center for some possible relief in store for the west coast. The Global Forecast model is showing a tropical system capable of producing heavy rainfall for a region that so desperately needs it. That model projects landfall sometime around 7AM Tuesday July 21st.

Meanwhile, the US Drought Monitor places much of California under an Exceptional Drought--the most severe level on the drought scale.

Courtesy: www.nhc.noaa.gov

Courtesy: www.weather.cod.edu

Now, a tropical system following this track and maintaining that intensity almost a week and half out is a long shot. However, the area certainly needs the rain and it could have an impact on the overall weather pattern that we've been experiencing.

As of right now, the National Hurricane Center has only described this potential system as nothing more than a tropical disturbance. We're going to keep our hopes up though because the potential for this area of low pressure to develop into a cyclone within the next 5 days is 70% -- which is rather high.

We'll continue to watch this system as it moves along a northerly track along the western coast of North America.



-Brendan Johnson
First Warn Weather Intern