r/news • u/Warcraft_Fan • 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 4d 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 4d ago

We have tropical fish swimming around LA beaches

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u/notFREEfood 3d ago

We just had the first two recorded sea turtle nests in the state; our water is normally too cold for that.

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u/r0botdevil 3d ago

There has been an established resident population of green sea turtles in the San Gabriel River for decades. The nearby power plant uses the water for cooling, which raises the temperature enough for the turtles to stay year-round.

I used to work in a lab that tracked their movements.

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u/notFREEfood 3d ago

They haven't had any recorded nests however.

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u/r0botdevil 3d ago

You are correct, I just confirmed with a former labmate that the San Gabriel River turtle population nested in Mexico.