Thursday, August 17, 2023 8:44PM
A looming threat of heavy rain and flash flooding is making its way toward Southern California this weekend as Hurricane Hilary moves up the Pacific coast of Mexico.
By time it reaches our area, the hurricane is likely be downgraded to a tropical storm but we’re still expecting strong winds, rain and high surf.
The storm’s current track has Hilary moving into Southern California early Monday morning. If Hilary does make landfall in the state as a tropical storm, it would be the first to do so since 1939.
BREAKDOWN OF HILARY’S PATH TOWARD SOCAL
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Hilary is a category 2 hurricane with winds of up to 105 mph and is located a few hundred miles south of Cabo San Lucas.
Hilary is expected to rapidly strengthen as it moves north and will likely be upgraded to a category 3 hurricane later Thursday. By Saturday morning, it’ll be a category 4 with winds up 130 mph off the Baja California coast.
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Hilary will then rapidly weaken as she enters cooler ocean waters near California.
Once it reaches California Monday, it will have likely been downgraded to a tropical storm with up to 60 mph winds.
HEAVY RAIN THREAT IN SOCAL
Hilary is expected to bring heavy rain that could produce flash flooding, landslides, mudslides and debris flows.
How much rain Southern California will receive depends on where the center of the storm moves. The eastern side of the storm is typically the strongest part, so deserts and mountain areas will likely see the brunt of it.
The region will start to see widespread rain starting Sunday evening and into Monday morning.
Some areas could get up to seven inches of rain from this storm system.
National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Tardy told ABC News some inland desert areas could see their annual rainfall in just 48 hours.
Rough surf will also be an issue along local beaches, which could lead to beach erosion.
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