Pineapple Express

Early in 1862, extreme storms riding the Pineapple Express[4][5] battered the west coast for 45 days. In addition to a sudden snow melt, some places received an estimated 8.5 feet (2.6 m) of rain,[5] leading to the worst flooding in recorded history of California, Oregon, and Nevada, known as the Great Flood of 1862. Both the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys flooded, and there was extensive flooding and mudslides throughout the region.[6]

The San Francisco Bay Area is another locale along the Pacific Coast which is occasionally affected by a Pineapple Express. When it visits, the heavy, persistent rainfall typically causes flooding of local streams as well as urban flooding. In the decades before about 1980, the local term for a Pineapple Express was "Hawaiian Storm".[7] During the second week of January, 1952, a series of "Hawaiian" storms swept into Northern California, causing widespread flooding around the Bay Area.

The same storms brought a blizzard of heavy, wet snow to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, notoriously stranding the train City of San Francisco on January 13.

The greatest flooding in Northern California since the 1800s occurred in 1955 as a result of a series of Hawaiian storms, with the greatest damage in the Sacramento Valley around Yuba City.[8]

Unusually high precipitation caused an ephemeral lake to occur in the Badwater Basin of Death Valley National Park, 2005.

A Pineapple Express related storm battered Southern California from January 7 through January 11, 2005. This storm was the largest to hit Southern California since the storms that hit during the 1997–98 El Niño event.[9] The storm caused mud slides and flooding, with one desert location just north of Morongo Valley receiving about 9 inches (230 mm) of rain, and some locations on south and southwest-facing mountain slopes receiving spectacular totals: San Marcos Pass, in Santa Barbara County, received 24.57 inches (624 mm), and Opids Camp (AKA Camp Hi-Hill) in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County was deluged with 31.61 inches (80.3 cm) of rain in the five-day period.[10] In some areas the storm was followed by over a month of near-continuous rain.

The unusually intense rainstorms that hit south-central Alaska in October 2006 were termed "Pineapple Express" rains locally.[11]

November 2006 flood, Granite Falls on the Stillaguamish River, Washington

The Puget Sound region from Olympia, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia received several inches of rain per day in November 2006 from a series of successive Pineapple Express related storms that caused massive flooding in all major regional rivers and mudslides which closed the mountain passes. These storms included heavy winds which are not usually associated with the phenomenon. Regional dams opened their spillways to 100% as they had reached capacity because of rain and snowmelt. Officials referred to the storm system as "the worst in a decade" on November 8, 2006. Portions of Oregon were also affected, including over 14 inches (350 mm) in one day at Lees Camp in the Coast Range, while the normally arid and sheltered Interior of British Columbia received heavy coastal-style rains.

In December 2010, a Pineapple Express system ravaged California from December 15 through December 22, bringing with it as much as 2 feet (61 cm) of rain to the San Gabriel Mountains and over 13 feet (4.0 m) of snow in the Sierra Nevada. Although the entire state was affected, the Southern California counties of San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Los Angeles bore the brunt of the system of storms, as coastal and hillside areas were impacted by mudslides and major flooding.[12]

In December 2014, a powerful winter storm enhanced by a Pineapple Express feature struck California, resulting in snow, wind, and flood watches.[13] A blizzard warning was issued by the National Weather Service for the Northern Sierra Nevada for the first time in California since October 2009 and January 2008.[14] The storm caused power outages for more than 50,000 people.[15] It was thought to be the most powerful storm to impact California since the January 2010 California winter storms.[16][17] A rare tornado touched down in Los Angeles on December 12.[18]

Historically strong storms associated with the Pineapple Express brought flooding and mudslides to California, particularly the San Francisco Bay Area, destroying homes and closing numerous roads, including State Route 17, State Route 35, State Route 37, Interstate 80, State Route 12, State Route 1, State Route 84, State Route 9 and State Route 152.[19][20]

The storm brought major snow to the Sierra Nevada and San Gabriel Mountains. A state record was recorded with places on the Sierra reaching up to 800 inches of snow. The storm also brought not only significant flooding to the Los Angeles area and most of Southern California (killing about 3 people), but also significant severe weather in that area.

A powerful winter storm channeled a Pineapple Express into California from January 26 to 29. One person was injured in one of the mudslides in Northern California, and many structures suffered damage.[21] The storm killed at least two people in California.[22][23] A significant length of California State Route 1 along the Big Sur collapsed into the ocean after massive amounts of rain were dumped, causing a debris flow onto the highway, which in turn triggered the collapse.[24] In Southern California, the storm triggered widespread flooding and debris flows, forcing the evacuations of thousands of people and also causing widespread property damage.[25] Salinas received 4 in (10 cm) of rainfall for the entire event causing mudflows that caused 7,000 people to evacuate. Across the State of California, the storm knocked out power to an estimated 575,000 people at one point, according to power outage tracking maps and PG&E.[26][25] In the mountainous parts of the state, the winter storm dropped tremendous amounts of heavy snow, with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area receiving 94 in (240 cm) within 72 hours, and a total of 107 in (270 cm) of snowfall for the entire event.[27] Blizzard conditions were also recorded on parts of the Sierra Nevada.[26] Very high wind gusts were also observed, with gusts over 100 mph (160 km/h) observed at Alpine Meadows, peaking at 126 mph (203 km/h).[28]