Hurricane Hilary builds rapidly as it nears California and Mexico

Hurricane Hilary has quickly grown into a category 4 storm off the coast of Mexico. By the weekend, it could bring a lot of rain to the south-western US.
At midnight, Hilary had winds that stayed around 220 km/h (140 mph), according to the US National Hurricane Center. On Friday morning, Hilary was expected to keep getting stronger quickly. On Saturday, it should start to get weaker.
The Peninsula of Baja California could start to feel the effects of a tropical storm late on Friday. The predicted course of Hurricane Hilary shows that it could hit the middle of the peninsula by Sunday, or it could stay out to sea and go straight to southern California.
The center of Hilary was about 425 miles (685 km) south of Los Cabos, which is at the southern end of the Baja peninsula. It was moving west-northwest at 22 km/h, but on Saturday it was expected to slowly turn north.
The hurricane center said that if Hilary moved toward or touched the Baja peninsula, it could become a tropical storm or depression for a short time and cross into the US.
The National Weather Service says that since September 25, 1939, no tropical storm has hit land in southern California. The hurricane center said, "Hilary's effects on rainfall in the south-western U.S. are expected to be at their worst this weekend and Monday." There is a chance of flash, urban, and arroyo floods, which could have big effects.
Heavy rains could hit the area from Bakersfield, California, Arizona, Yuma, and even some parts of southern Nevada. The Los Angeles weather office said that there would be a lot of rain in southern California from Sunday to Tuesday.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said on Wednesday that it was unlikely that Hilary would hit California as a tropical storm, but that heavy rain and floods were likely.
The Mexican government said that a weaker version of Hurricane Hilary could hit the coast between Playas de Rosarito and Ensenada in Baja California State on Sunday night.