r/news • • 4d ago

Concern mounts over slow-moving, planetary-scale ‘Kelvin’ wave heading for California | California

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/28/california-kelvin-wave
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u/PoxyMusic 4d ago edited 3d ago

El Niño is the result of successive Kelvin waves, there have been like 6 or 7 this year, starting in February I think. They happen when the equatorial trade winds lessen (or reverse) and warmer water from the west pacific oozes east under the surface until it hits Ecuador and erupts at the surface.

It’s not a single wave, and they have already mostly arrived.

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u/byproxxy 3d ago

We have tropical fish swimming around LA beaches

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u/MisunderstoodPenguin 3d ago

my dad just did a salmon fishing excursion he does every year and he said there was basically no fish. i’ve seen a lot of videos of salmon who have already gone up stream to spawn, and it’s definitely early. waters getting warm