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The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned of significant rainfall in Baja California and the southwestern United States when Hurricane Hilary makes landfall this weekend.
As a tropical storm, Hilary formed early on Wednesday and intensified into a hurricane by Thursday morning. The storm is classified as Category 1, with current wind speeds at 75 miles per hour, but further intensification is expected. Hilary's winds are expected to reach Category 4 strength—which the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale describes as "catastrophic" wind speeds ranging from 130 to 156 miles per hour—by Friday night before weakening to a Category 2 over the weekend when it hits Baja California.
No tropical storm has made landfall in California with hurricane-force winds in recorded history. However, heavy rainfall is expected to cause flash flooding and possible landslides despite the hurricane's strength once it lands in the state later this weekend.
Some desert areas, such as Palm Springs, California, could see 12 times or more of their monthly average rainfall over the span of two days.
Rainfall impacts are forecast to peak on Sunday and Monday in the southwestern United States. The NHC reported that much of the region could see between 3 and 6 inches, with isolated amounts reaching 10 inches in parts of Baja California.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty told Newsweek that Palm Springs is forecast to receive anywhere from 2 to 4 inches. Normally, rainfall in Palm Springs equals .18 inches during August, so Hurricane Hilary could dump anywhere from 12 to 20 times that amount on the city over the course of two days.
The average annual rainfall in Palm Springs is 5.13 inches.
"It's entirely possible that they see half a year's worth of rainfall out of this within a two-day time span," Douty said.
Douty said many of the desert areas expected to receive significant rain aren't densely populated. Palm Springs is home to just over 45,000 people, according to 2020 census data.
"The worst impacts will be in places that don't have a lot of people," he said.
High rain could cause washouts, or sudden erosion, in desert areas including Palm Springs. The region's dry streams and rivers likely will also fill up with water, Douty said.
Mudslides are a bigger threat to the southern California mountain ranges with the incoming storm. Debris flow could occur in areas that have recently suffered from wildfires.
Parts of Southern California, such as Los Angeles and San Diego, are used to high rain amounts, but typically most of the area's rain occurs in the winter, Douty said. Last winter, California was hit with a series of devastating rainstorms that saturated the state. The rain-heavy storms over the winter caused landslides and flooding, forcing thousands of families to evacuate.
"Summer is the dry season in southern California," Douty said.
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About the writer
Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
