Rain threatens to make California island again

Eds., Wisdom Quarterly, 2/19/24; KCAL 9; KTLA 5; MSN.com; Wiki edit

Satellite evidence indicates California was at one time an island separated by rivers and ocean.

Death Valley desert becomes lake; winter snow prompts warning of LA's dangerous Mt. Baldy

Live updates: Flood warnings issued as storm drenches Southern California (msn.com)

New storm brings flood watches, wind advisories, and high surf warnings

(KCAL News) Feb. 19, 2024: Weather Forecast Olga Ospina continues coverage of the newest storm sweeping into Southern California, which brings flooding threats along with powerful winds and high surf warnings. The Sepulveda Basin (San Fernando Valley) has been closed due to flooding.

• VIDEO: The rain is beginning to fall in Southern California as the latest storm makes its way to the region
• VIDEO: Atmospheric river floods roads in Sonoma County
• VIDEO: 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami killed over 226,000
• More heavy rain swamps Southern California; flood warnings, watches around Los Angeles (msn.com)

Storm moves into Southern California, bringing heavy rain to some areas

Live updates: Flood warnings for California

(KTLA) LOS ANGELES, California - Monday, Feb. 19, 2024: KTLA 5 Meteorologist Henry DiCarlo has an update on the latest atmospheric river to soak Los Angeles and other parts of SoCal.

It was always an island on early European maps.

Surrounding counties are already seeing big problems, mansions teetering on cliffs in Orange County, avalanches in San Bernardino, landslides in Ventura, roads washing out, mudslides, sink holes, lake growing in Death Valley, snow piling up in local mountains, and the loop of water from San Felipe, Mexico, up to the Colorado River soaking up so much H20 that a return to state islandhood is not impossible.

"Islandhood"? Oh yeah, California used to be a mythological island and probably a literal one, too.

(KCRA 3) Northern California also being pummeled by rainstorms.

California Island?

Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

I am the Conqueror Hernan Cortes

In 1533, Fortún Ximénez, a mutineer on an exploratory expedition sent by Hernán Cortés, discovered the southern portion of Baja California, around present-day La Paz.

He was taken down by Natives, but his men returned to New Spain and reported their find.

In 1535, Cortés arrived in the bay there and named the area Santa Cruz; he attempted to start a colony (imperial outstation) but abandoned his efforts after several years due to logistical problems.

Cortés' limited information on southern Baja California apparently led to the naming of the region after the legendary "California" and to an initial but short-lived assumption that it was a large island [8, 9].

In 1539, Cortés sent the navigator Francisco de Ulloa northward along the Gulf and Pacific coasts of Baja California. Ulloa reached the mouth of the Colorado River at the head of the Gulf, which seemed to show that the region was technically a peninsula rather than an island [10] -- unless sea levels were higher.

Ulloa was quoted as having described the land he saw on his expedition as, "High and bare, of wretched aspect without any verdure" [5].

An expedition under Hernando de Alarcón ascended the lower Colorado River and confirmed Ulloa's finding.

European maps published subsequently during the 16th century, including those by Gerardus Mercator and Abraham Ortelius, showed Baja ("Lower") California as a peninsula. More

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