Hurricane Hilary becomes a Category 4 storm, it might bring heavy rain to the Southwest US this weekend

As Hurricane Hilary gets stronger and becomes a Category 4 storm, the Southwest is likely to start getting a lot of rain on Friday and continue through early next week.

Outlook International Desk

Updated on: 18 August 2023 3:35 pm

Photo of Hurricane Hilary by National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Hilary has grown into a Category 4 storm as it moves toward Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. However, it is expected to weaken over the weekend as it brings rain and the risk of flooding to parts of the Southwest US.
The National Hurricane Center said that Hilary was moving about 425 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, early Friday morning. It had winds that stayed at 140 mph and got stronger at times.
Thursday night, the storm got stronger and became a Category 3 hurricane. It could get even stronger Friday morning. On Saturday, Hilary is expected to stay at Category 4 strength. During the day, it will start to weaken as it moves into much colder seas to the west of the peninsula.
The center of Hilary is expected to get close to the peninsula on Friday and over the weekend. Because of this, parts of Baja California Sur are under a hurricane watch and tropical storm watches and warnings, according to the hurricane center.
As the storm moves north over the next few days, there is still a wide range of possibilities for where it will rain the most and how strong the winds will be. Small changes in the hurricane's path could make it hard to predict when the rain and wind will be the worst.
The storm center said Thursday night that the northern parts of the Baja California Peninsula and the Southwestern United States are more likely to be affected by strong winds, especially in mountainous areas.
Hilary is expected to bring 3 to 6 inches of rain to parts of the Baja California Peninsula through Sunday night, with some places getting up to 10 inches. A storm surge could also cause flooding along the western part of the peninsula's coast, and it will come with big, damaging waves.
Flood watches have been issued from San Diego to Los Angeles in southern California, where people are getting ready for possible downpours over the weekend. The National Weather Service in Los Angeles has also warned that dangerously high waves, rip currents, and floods along the coast could happen.