Hurricane Hilary is expected to slam into Southern California on Sunday as a rare tropical storm, unleashing floods, fierce winds and heavy downpours as residents evacuate, parks and beaches close and first responders brace for water rescues.
Hilary is now a Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 80 miles per hour as it barrels north-northwest at a speed of around 21 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was about 285 miles south-southeast of San Diego as of 5 a.m. local time Sunday.
Live updates: Hurricane Hilary to bring major flooding risk to California
The hurricane is expected to weaken to a tropical storm before it reaches the US – but it’ll still likely pack a powerful punch in the Southwest, with “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding expected, according to the hurricane center.
The storm is forecast to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain – or even 10 inches in some areas – and whip up damaging winds that can knock power out for many. The worst of it is expected Sunday into Monday.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Saturday for a large swath of Southern California to support hurricane response and recovery efforts, according to the governor’s office.
“We’re mobilizing all of government as we prepare and respond to this unprecedented storm,” Newsom said.
Tracking Hilary
A hurricane warning is in effect in Mexico from Punta Abreojos to Cabo San Quintin – a roughly 300-mile stretch along the Baja California Peninsula’s western shore.
“Flash and urban flooding, locally catastrophic, is expected, especially in the northern portions of the peninsula,” the hurricane center said Saturday night, with rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches possible.
Although Hilary is forecast to move north from Baja California into Southern California Sunday afternoon, its impacts will be felt earlier.
“Preparations for flooding impacts associated with Hilary should be completed as soon as possible, as heavy rainfall will begin well in advance of the center,” the hurricane center said.
Parts of California, Nevada and Arizona that are unaccustomed to rain could suddenly receive a year’s worth or more. And along the coast, large swells generated by Hilary are likely to create life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
The threat has triggered California’s first ever tropical storm warning extending from the state’s southern border to just north of Los Angeles. Hilary is also forecast to be “the wettest tropical cyclone in state history,” according to the California governor’s office.
Hilary “could be one of the most devastating storms that we’ve had hit California in more than a decade,” said Nancy Ward, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
If Hilary makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, it would be the first such storm to do so in the state in nearly 84 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Residents of the San Bernardino County communities of Oak Glen, Forest Falls, Mountain Home Village, Angelus Oaks, and Northeast Yucaipa were all ordered to evacuate Saturday.
Visitors and some residents of Catalina Island, part of California’s Channel Islands, were “strongly encouraged” to leave the island ahead of the storm in a news release from the City of Avalon.
Meanwhile, helicopters from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office were flying over riverbed areas Saturday afternoon, making announcements in both English and Spanish to warn homeless people about the extreme weather.
On top of the threats of heavy rainfall and swollen surf, Hilary also brings with it the threat of isolated tornadoes Sunday from mid-morning through the evening over parts of the lower Colorado River Valley, Mojave Desert and Imperial Valley regions, according to the hurricane center.
