Flood watch has been issued for the north of Los Angeles because of Hurricane Hilary
“1977, Kathleen,” Tardy Lists: “The Last Tropical Storm to Hit Southern California” (1937, Sacramento, Cal., USA)
southern California has the most disasters, like earthquakes and wildfires, which makes it the location of the first-ever tropical storm warning. They say the last storm of this strength to hit southern California was in 1939.
The reporter from KPBS says there’s a lot of concern about the storm impacting the city of Tijuana. It’s a city built on a hillside and surrounded by canyons. Heavy rainfalls increase the chance of mudslides, which cause more problems and can be deadlier in Tijuana than San Diego.
There was one storm in 1939 that was the strongest in the tropics until it hit San Diego. This weather is very unusual for the region.
“1977, Kathleen.” 1997, Eudora,” Tardy lists, “there’s not many that we can look back historically that even had a forecast coming right at us.”
Tropical Storm Hilary Sailing Through Mexico and the Southern Hemisphere: State of Emergency and Emergency Warnings for Southern California and the Southwest
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, says some inland desert areas could see upward of five to ten inches of rain.
A flood watch has been placed from Mexico, north to Ventura, and inland to western Arizona, because of the heavy rain from Hilary, which is expected to impact the West Coast and Southwest through the weekend.
Tropical Storm Hilary is approaching Southern California and parts of the Southwest on Sunday — bringing fierce winds and historic rainfall to areas that have not seen tropical storm conditions in more than 80 years.
Hilary, which was a Category 3 on Sunday, has been barreling through Mexico. At least one person died of drowning in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia amid the storm. The Baja California coast is still in threat of flash floods despite the end of the Mexico’shurricane watch.
The storm was traveling at 25 miles per hour and it was about 220 miles south-southwest of San Diego. The National Weather Service expects the storm to move across southern California by the afternoon.
The parts of southern California and southern Nevada are not expected to get a lot of precipitation, but could get some. The parts that will get the most rain in a day will do so in a matter of hours. On higher terrain the winds will be especially strong and gusty.
On Saturday night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency for several counties, including Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Tulare, Orange and Ventura. Some communities in San Bernardino County have already received an order to evacuate.
Cal Fire and the California National Guard are ready with their water vehicles and water rescue teams in case of flooding. State officials also urged residents to sign up for flood and evacuation alerts from their counties, as well as prepare their pets and family in case they need to evacuate.
