Hurricane Hilary strengthened into a Category 4 storm by Friday morning, August 18, 2023, as it barreled towards the U.S. Southwest.
All eyes are on the potential for significant impacts in California and the Southwest from the storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph as of early Friday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hilary had been forecast to become a major Category 4 hurricane but it is expected to weaken, according to the center.
If it makes landfall on California as a tropical storm, it will be the first one in 84 years.
On Thursday the track had it making landfall near San Diego as a tropical storm at 6 a.m. Monday, the National Weather Service for Los Angeles said, but shifts east or west could increase impacts for LA.
The National Weather Service warned early Friday that Hilary was expected to bring “significant impacts” to the Southwestern U.S. this weekend into early next week.
California could see several months’ worth of rain in just one or two days, potentially causing flash floods.
Three to 5 inches of rain, with isolated amounts of 10 inches, could fall in parts of Southern California and Southern Nevada, the Hurricane Center said.
“The biggest threat in our area will definitely be the risk of flash flooding associated with heavy rain,” the Weather Service for San Diego tweeted Thursday night.
As Hilary heads north in the Pacific Ocean, the center of the storm will approach the Baja California peninsula over the weekend and California and the Southwest by late Sunday or early Monday.
