Has California ever been hit by a hurricane?

Photo: Frederic J. Brown, AFP/Getty Images Big waves crash ashore and into the pier at Seal Beach, California...

As news of dramatic flooding in the Houston area caused by Hurricane Harvey makes headlines, you might be wondering whether California has ever been pummeled by a similarly epic storm.

The Golden State has never seen a tropical storm as equally fierce, and in fact a full-blown hurricane has never reached landfall in California, according to Mike Anderson, the California State climatologist with the Department of Water Resources.

"We've had tropical storms, but the wind speeds aren't quite strong enough to be classified as a hurricane," Anderson says. "No storm organized as a hurricane has ever reached California."

Remnants of tropical cyclones formed in the eastern Pacific occasionally soak the state; these are "leftovers" from hurricanes that have dissipated as they move north.

"There are hurricanes that build up off Baja California but the farther north they move into colder waters, the weaker they become," says Drew Peterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Bay Area office. "Hurricanes need warm oceanic temperatures [above 80 degrees] and without that heat, they fall apart."

RELATED GALLERY: Dramatic images of Hurricane Harvey in coastal Texas

People and rescue boats line Tidwell at the east Sam Houston Tollway as rescues continue from flooding following Hurricane Harvey Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston. People and rescue boats line Tidwell at the east Sam Houston Tollway as rescues continue from flooding following Hurricane Harvey Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston. Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 224 Caption Close Has California ever been hit by a hurricane? 1 / 224 Back to Gallery

Peterson makes the point that Hurricane Harvey only had to travel a short distance from where it developed in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico to coastal Texas. A hurricane formed in the Gulf of California has a long way to travel to Los Angeles and loses steam as it hits cooler waters even in the summer on its journey.

What's more, tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific are usually steered by prevailing upper-level winds pushing systems north-westward and northward so they never reach land north of central Baja California.

Remnant moisture from hurricanes occasionally bring torrential rain to Southern California. Los Angeles received 2.39 inches of rain on Sept. 15, 2005, when Hurricane Linda spread its tentacles north from Mexico. And many in Southern California recall the tropical cyclone of 1939 that hit Long Beach. This was among the strongest tropical storms to ever hit the state, "but it wasn't hurricane strength," says Stewart Seto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.

And scenarios like this can happen once or twice a year in this area. The impact can also manifest in other ways. Hurricane Eugene brought dangerous rip currents and massive waves, some as high as 10 feet, to San Diego in June.

Hurricane weather rarely comes to the north. Remnants of Tropical Storm Ignacio brought heavey rains to Northern and Central California in August 2009.

Is it possible that a hurricane would ever reach landfall in California?

"It would be a real challenge and if it did ever happen, most likely it would hit Southern California and again you need the warm, warm waters and the upper level winds to cooperate," Anderson says. "And most of time they're not cooperative."

And here's another expert opinion. "The interesting thing is that it really can't happen, statistically speaking," William Patzert a climatologist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a 2012 NASA interview. "The odds are infinitesimal -- so small that everyone should just relax. Like 1 in 1,000. Of course, there's always a chance. But there's a good reason why we don't name our West Coast sports teams the Hurricanes, but we do have the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

This story was updated Aug. 28 at 10:24 a.m.