JMP73

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This article is about the meteorological phenomenon. For the 2008 film, see Pineapple Express (film). For the
US rescue mission in Afghanistan, see Task Force Pineapple.
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November 2006 satellite image showing clouds from north of Hawaii to

Washington, a Pineapple Express configuration
Pineapple Express is a specific recurring atmospheric river both in the waters immediately northeast of
the Hawaiian Islands and extending northeast to any location along the Pacific coast of North America. It is a
non-technical term and a meteorological phenomenon. It is characterized by a strong and persistent large-scale
flow of warm moist air, and the associated heavy precipitation. A Pineapple Express is an example of an
atmospheric river, which is a more general term for such relatively narrow corridors of enhanced water vapor
transport at mid-latitudes around the world.
Causes and effects[edit]

How the Madden–Julian oscillation can induce a
Pineapple Express NASA Geostationary Operational Environmental

Satellite called GOES-11, image of the "Pineapple Express" captured at 1800 UTC (1 p.m. EST) on 19
December 2010.
A Pineapple Express is driven by a strong, southern branch of the polar jet stream and is marked by the
presence of a surface frontal boundary which is typically either slow or stationary, with waves of low pressure
traveling along its length. Each of these low-pressure systems brings enhanced rainfall.
The conditions are often created by the Madden–Julian oscillation, an equatorial rainfall pattern which feeds its
moisture into this pattern. They are also present during an El Niño episode.
The combination of moisture-laden air, atmospheric dynamics, and orographic enhancement resulting from the
passage of this air over the mountain ranges of the western coast of North America causes some of the most
torrential rains to occur in the region. Pineapple Express systems typically generate heavy snowfall in the
mountains and Interior Plateau, which often melts rapidly because of the warming effect of the system. After
being drained of their moisture, the tropical air masses reach the inland prairies as a Chinook wind or simply "a
Chinook", a term which is also synonymous in the Pacific Northwest with the Pineapple Express.[citation needed]
Extreme cases[edit]
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Many Pineapple Express events follow or occur simultaneously with major arctic troughs in the northwestern
United States, often leading to major snow-melt flooding with warm, tropical rains falling on frozen, snow laden
ground.[1] Examples of this are the Christmas flood of 1964, Willamette Valley flood of 1996, New Year's Day
Flood of 1997, January 2006 Flood in Northern California and Nevada, Great Coastal Gale of 2007, January
2008 Flood in Nevada, January 2009 Flood in Washington, the January 2012 Flood in Oregon, the 2019
Valentine's Day Flood in Southern California,[2] and the February 2020 floods in Oregon and Washington.[3]
West coast, 1862[edit]

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 (2,600 mm) 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]
Northern California, 1952[edit]

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 13 January.
Northern California, 1955[edit]

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]
Southern California, 2005[edit]
Unusually high precipitation caused an ephemeral lake to occur in

the Badwater Basin of Death Valley National Park, 2005.
Main article: Los Angeles County flood of 2005

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Temperate and polar seasons

November 2006 satellite image showing clouds from north of Hawaii to

Causes and effects[edit]

Pineapple Express NASA Geostationary Operational Environmental

West coast, 1862[edit]

Northern California, 1952[edit]

Northern California, 1955[edit]

Southern California, 2005[edit]

Unusually high precipitation caused an ephemeral lake to occur in

Main article: Los Angeles County flood of 2005

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