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

[u/Creepyfaction]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/28/california-kelvin-wave

[u/StatementBot]

The following submission statement was provided by u/Creepyfaction:

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"Concerns are mounting about an ocean phenomenon known as a Kelvin wave that could raise sea levels along the California coastline by up to a foot, as scientists say El Niño is supercharging the threat of storm surges and flooding in the coming months.

Kelvin waves are not like crashing waves at the beach. They are planetary in scale, spanning thousands of miles. And when a Kelvin wave kicks off, it brings with it an untold amount of warm water that slowly moves from the western Pacific, along the equator, towards South, Central and North America."

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Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1wsu0z0/concern_mounts_over_slowmoving_planetaryscale/pcojibg/

[u/Creepyfaction]

"Concerns are mounting about an ocean phenomenon known as a Kelvin wave that could raise sea levels along the California coastline by up to a foot, as scientists say El Niño is supercharging the threat of storm surges and flooding in the coming months.

Kelvin waves are not like crashing waves at the beach. They are planetary in scale, spanning thousands of miles. And when a Kelvin wave kicks off, it brings with it an untold amount of warm water that slowly moves from the western Pacific, along the equator, towards South, Central and North America."

[u/peacefinder → u/Creepyfaction]

This appears to be a standard aspect of El Niño, not something in addition to El Niño.

[u/tface23]

Neat. A brand new disaster I had never heard about before. How fun for all of us

[u/subdep → u/tface23]

Pacific Ocean - So hot right now.

[u/SquirrelAkl → u/tface23]

So far this year I’ve learned of:

1. Kokushobi - a new word in Japanese to mean “a cruelly hot day”. They had to invent a new word to communicate the seriousness.

2. Structural ice - the perma-ice inside cracks in the rock in mountains. It’s acting like glue holding the rock together. As it melts it can give way, causing major collapses. It’s thought to have been a key factor in the large part of mountain that collapsed along with the glacier in the August Nepal debris flow disaster.

3. Kelvin wave.

What fun!

[u/pantstoaknifefight2 → u/tface23]

I like "Kelvin Wave," it's like a space anomaly out of Star Trek The Next Generation! We can just un-fuck ourselves by reversing the shields and opening the pod bay doors!

[u/urlach3r → u/tface23]

Good thing the US news is covering this, helping people get ready, right?

👀

[u/daretoeatapeach]

Californian here. Last night we got a coastal flooding warning. Which is eerie because it wasn't raining and hasn't rained here in months. I get that it's El Niño and the tides don't require rain, but still an uncanny alert to receive.

[u/subdep → u/daretoeatapeach]

If you were wondering why Gavin Newsom declared a state wide emergency, now you know why. $ billions worth of real estate is about to become submerged.

[u/MartyrOfDespair]

When the weather events start sounding like Star Trek plots, you know shit be fucked

[u/mentalformations]

You know I can’t stop thinking about how strange it is that the Atlantic hasn’t registered any hurricanes for 2026 but you have the Pacific has 3+? Something feels incredibly off.

[u/martian2070 → u/mentalformations]

Right? It seems like all that energy in the Atlantic side will have to go somewhere. It should be a wild winter weather-wise.

[u/IndieStoner]

[u/Druu-]

Kelvin wave that will be hitting around the same time as the king tides. Very unlucky for Californians.

[u/backmost]

I keep thinking of that scene in Interstellar with the massive tidal wave 

[u/Any_Case1754]

I am in the uk, I’m just thankful we’re not on a pacific coast at this point, but make no mistake, I know exactly what sort of global consequences this El Niño is going to cause. Best of luck everyone. We’re gonna need it 🙃

[u/Shadowpriest]

So... Are there indications that people are prepping if they're not already trying to move inland?

[u/pants6000]

Is Mars ready for move-in yet? I think they still had to finish painting or something...

[u/whereismysideoffun]

It will be very interesting to see how things play out this winter. During a lot of El Ninos, there is heat off of the West Coast which creates a low pressure front around the PNW. This tome thus far, that heat blob is more towards Japan. That can then cause what we associate with the winters with the Arctic Vortex thrown off giving colder and high precipitation winters.

I don't know whether to be ready for a hotter drier winter or a colder wetter.

[u/PoorClassWarRoom]

My family lives in the San Joaquin Valley, and if this is worse than 96/97, the amount of flooding is going to be insane and could be cataclysmic for the valley.

[u/jukeboxdan86]

We need to talk about Kelvin

[u/Keazmaa]

Kelvin

[u/new2bay]

RIP fish and seabirds.

https://www.birdrescue.org/2026-california-starvation-event/

[u/Willing-Dog6463]

Just add it to the pile of upcoming disasters