The Pacific Storm Category System works with the storm name to give it personality and easily track and archive all rain/storm events that hits our forecast area. This is not like the Hurricane Scale, however takes the highest impacting storms Southern California has ever seen and gives that a category six, a rare event. To get a category six you need frontal zone winds along tornadic severe storm lines at 70 mph with a pineapple express connection. These events are rare but have happened in the past.
To get the category number for a storm we developed values for wind, rain, and thunderstorm/severe mode type. All three combined for a certain location divided by three would be the forecast category number.
This system has been in place and designed by me with names/categories since before 1999 and will continue each year till SCWF closes.
Pacific Storm Category System (Add together and divide by 3)
NOTE: A Category Six System can also be when a historic fire happens in the reset time along with a major Pineapple Express pattern, regardless of thunderstorms. These are Once every 100 year events, depending what area of the forecast area they are in.
Wind Gusts
1 – 20 mph
2 – 30 mph
3 – 40 mph
4 – 50 mph
5 – 60 mph
6 – 70 mph +
Precipitation
1 – Hit and Miss Showers
2 – Light Front
3 – Moderate Front
4 – Heavy Front
5 – Extreme Front
6 – Pineapple Express
Thunder
1 – Isolated
2 – Scattered
3 – Numerous
4 – Isolated Severe
5 – Numerous Severe
6 – Tornadic
NOTE: A Category Six System can also be when a historic fire happens in the reset time along with a major Pineapple Express pattern, regardless of thunderstorms. These are Once every 100 year events, depending what area of the forecast area they are in.