What Does A 'Pineapple Express' Mean?

What Does A 'Pineapple Express' Mean?

Story Published: Nov 12, 2002 at 2:45 PM PST

Story Updated: Mar 13, 2008 at 1:13 PM PST

By Steve Pool

SEATTLE - A "pineapple express" is a weather pattern when we get to say "aloha" to some driving rains. There are times in the winter when the jet stream --which acts like a steering force in controlling where weather goes -- will dip down into the tropics, and then carry a large batch of tropical moisture northeast into the Pacific Northwest.

Since many times the moisture has its origins in the area near Hawaii, the pattern got the name of "pineapple express."

These tend to be some of the wettest and warmest storms we see during the winter, and a common culprit in causing our lowland flooding episodes.

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