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Dictionary definition of “Pineapple Express”

Pineapple Express

n. a weather condition made of a jet stream of wet, warm air that reaches western North America from the Pacific Ocean, usually by way of Hawaii, and causes heavy rainfall. Subjects: ,
Citations: 1986 Thomas H. Maugh II, Ronald B. Taylor Los Angeles Times (Mar. 21) “Jet Stream Meanderings Weather: Take Hawaii and Then Stir in Alaska” p. 3: In mid-February, the jet stream split in two over the mid-Pacific. The two arms of the jet stream then collided just off the California coast, with one bringing cold air from Alaska and the other—dubbed the “Pineapple Express"—bringing warm moist storms from Hawaii. 2005 Oversight Hearing Before the Subcommitte on Water and Power of the Committee on Resources (Oct. 20) “Serial No. 109-32: Water Supply Vulnerabilities In The Sacramento/San Joaquin River System” (in United States House of Representatives) p. 48: David Guy mentioned this phenomenon of a Pineapple Express which we seem to get about every 10 to 12 years. And that is where we get heavy snows in the Sierra, followed by a warm rain coming from the Hawaiian Islands, which dumps all his warm rain on top of heavy snows, and it all comes down at once. 2006 Justin Hughes Comox Valley Record (Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada) (Nov. 10) “Comox sets two weather records”: The Pineapple Express, a colloquialism for the remnants of a pacific storm that rolls inland, struck the entire province with its warm, wet weather. And, although we didn’t get record rainfall, temperatures were at a record peak.

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